Teen Ascendants
by Divineoverseer
Summary: Stiles can't forgive Allison for her actions and it puts Scott in the middle. However, it's the least of their worries as a pack of Alphas arrive and seem to be targeting them. Their troubles multiply when a Darach starts committing sacrifices in town. But something is happening to Scott and Stiles, and it could be the key to everything. Sequel to Teen Monsters
1. Tattoo

Chapter 1: Tattoo

Scott was running through the woods at night as fast as he could. He jumped off into the trees until he landed in a small clearing. He was panting as he started to look around and squinted his eyes through the darkness. There was some rustling off in the distance and Scott tensed up. He tried to find the source but it seemed to be surrounding him. He couldn't find exactly where it was coming from. But there was a loud snap of a twig up ahead. He narrowed his eyes in that direction and was ready for what was coming but Scott's eyes widened as he turned to his left as something moved out of the brush. It collided with him before he could move against it. He landed on his back with a huff and his eyes shut in discomfort. He opened them to look up into the smiling face of Stiles.

"How long was that?" Scott grunted out.

Stiles looked over at his watch. "One minute and 52 seconds," he said. Scott groaned again. Stiles then went and helped him get to his feet. "Still a minute less than my time."

Scott have him a soft shove. "Yeah, rub it in," he said lowly but playfully.

The two of them had come up with a special exercise this summer where they go into the woods at night and have the other try to track them down. They thought it was something good to work on considering how many times they'd nearly been caught by people like Peter, Derek or the Hunters. Likewise, they thought it could come in handy if they ever needed to be the ones doing the catching. So far Stiles had gone the longest with avoiding being caught and taken down by Scott.

"Hey, I'm a natural remember?" Stiles said giving him a smug smile.

Scott rolled his eyes before he took a look up at the night sky. The moon was in plain view and it was nearly full. It had been almost four months since Gerard's defeat and Jackson being freed from being the Kanima. Scott and Stiles had found themselves feeling like their old selves again, friendship wise. The way they both handled becoming werewolves and the arrival of The Alpha, Argents and The Kanima had made quite a rift in their friendship. Scott had started to push Stiles away with his stubborn rejection of becoming werewolves and focus on his hunter ex-girlfriend Allison Argent. Stiles himself had started to push Scott away by embracing their new werewolf status in a way that Scott hadn't fully agreed with especially when it came to dealing with those that went against them. Scott had come to realize that a good deal of the fault might've lied with him. He had wanted to have a normal life but it was now impossible, and him dwelling on that grim fact didn't make his situation any better. It only helped to make things worse and boy did they get as worse as possible. He had let it all warp him into a terrible student, friend, son and all around selfish person. He didn't want to be that. They agreed that after everything they needed to start over, together.

And they had. The way they started was on the issue of Scott's grades, which suffered due to him neglecting his studies due to the drama and stress of their new lives. Scott saw the way that Stiles had managed to find a way to balance everything in their supernatural life and his school life and Stiles helped Scott learn to do that for himself. He helped Scott during his make-up studies in summer school and Scott found himself making improvements. Scott's mother had noticed the change and gave her full support behind what they were doing even if she was still lost on quite a few things. They also started to really knuckle down and hone in on areas of their shifts and abilities where they still had trouble, especially when it came to the full moon. They made quite a lot of progress. Their last full moon a month ago had gone over so well that they both didn't even have any loss of control, even for a moment.

Scott sighed. It had been a good summer and there was one thing still to do on their last night of it. "C'mon, we better go. I want to get there before they close." He then started to walk off and Stiles followed right after him.

"I still can't believe you're actually going through with this. You're sure that your mom said it was okay?"

"Yeah," Scott said with a smile. "I finally wore her down. With how I did in summer school and how I've been keeping out of trouble lately…she felt I earned it."

Stiles ran his hand through his hair. It was growing out nicely. Scott had tried to make a new resolution as part of them trying to start over. To be a better son, student and friend. Stiles decided to have something new with himself though he thought that Scott getting a tattoo was a bit drastic than him changing his hair style. But, it's what he wanted.

"Alright then." Stiles then broke into a smile. "Race you."

Stiles then went into a run and Scott let a chuckle loose as he ran off too. The two of them darted, jumped and dashed through the woods. The sound of light laughter echoed across the trees as they zoomed by.

* * *

Isaac's mind was jumbled. He kept having flashes of being dragged off, hurt and bleeding. He felt weak as he kept seeing the faces of Erica and Boyd, also wearing pained and scared expressions. Suddenly, Isaac felt a jarring feeling at his chest that came from someone shocking him with jumper cables. He gave out a shout as the electricity poured into his body and shook him awake.

"Quiet!" It was a woman and she was lifting him up and helping him walk off. "We're almost there," she said to him.

Isaac felt behind him. "My neck."

"It's from their claws," she said. "It's how they share memories."

Isaac blinked. "But I don't remember anything."

"Also how they steal them," she added. They then got to a motorcycle and she helped Isaac on before she got on in front of him. "Listen to me. No matter what happens, you hold on. You hold on tight."

Isaac nodded as she then went and put on her helmet. She started the engine and rode off. Isaac's vision was starting to clear more up and saw that they were riding through some kind of industrial sector. His ears also were clearing up and were picking up a strange sound.

"I hear something," he said to her. The sound was getting louder. He turned around and saw that it was the sound of running feet. Coming from a guy running after them with fangs bared and claws out. "Faster!" Isaac cried. The bike picked up speed and their pursuer started to fall behind. But then he was joined by another one. They started to pick up speed themselves and tried to swipe at them but only managed to graze the back of the bike. Isaac saw the new guy run in side by side with the other and noticed that he looked exactly like the first one. "Two of them." They were being chased by twin werewolves.

They had to make a turn which gave the two werewolves after them ground to catch up. They started to swipe their claws more at their bike. One of them managed to jump and get ahead of them. Isaac's rescuer made a sharp turn and just avoided getting them struck by his claws. The two werewolves flashed their bright red eyes at them before they ran off for them again. The bike came up to a junction and a truck suddenly started to come in and honked it's horn as they rode on passed it, just narrowly missing it. However, they had then rode into a dead end. They both looked back to see those twins slowly moving for them.

"Remember what I said before?" the girl said.

"Hold on," said Isaac.

She nodded. "Hold on."

She then revved the engine and took off for them. One of them went down while his brother went into a run and leapt off his brother's back and hurled himself high into the air. It looked like he would make contact with them but the girl quickly turned the bike and made them narrowly miss him as he struck the ground leaving a deep crack. For a moment, it looked like they would get away but Isaac's eyes widened when he saw that they were riding into a window.

"Whoa!" he screamed as they rode on into it.

They managed to land on the ground okay but Isaac was finding the effect of the shock he was given to him starting to run out. He was feeling groggy and was tipping in his seat.

The girl noticed. "Isaac! Stay with me! Isaac!" she yelled as he kept on falling off.

The shift of weight caused the bike to tip and they fell on over. The bike skid on the floor leaving a trail of sparks as they both fell off. Isaac lifted his head to see the twins were back. They then took off their shirts and then started to push against each other. Or rather push into one another. Their bodies were blending together in a way that Isaac had never seen before and was horrific to witness. When it was done, in the place of those twins was a hulking, supersized werewolf Alpha. Isaac tried to crawl off to get away.

"Isaac!" the girl called out. "Get down."

Isaac saw that she was aiming her gun and Isaac ducked down to give her a clear shot. She let a shot loose and a blast of electricity shot out and collided with the Super Alpha. It was roaring and writhing in pain until it fell to the ground. Isaac stared at it before looking back at the girl.

"I thought I told you to hold on," she scolded.

But Isaac just let himself collapse to the ground.

* * *

Over at a tattoo parlor, Scott was sitting on the chair while Stiles was off to the side looking through a design book of artful tattoos. But Scott knew what he wanted. He handed the tattoo artist a piece of paper. He opened it up to reveal two bands, one of them a little bigger than the other.

"Boy," the man said giving it a look. "Good thing you drew me a picture."

Scott just smiled.

"Hey Scott," Stiles called to draw his attention. "Sure you don't want something like this?" He smiled as he showed him a picture of a creature that looked remarkably like the Kanima. Scott just gave him a look. "Too soon?" Stiles then went and tossed the book aside. "Okay Scott, I gotta ask-"

"Again?" Scott said.

"One more time," Stiles said holding up his forefinger. "Are you sure about this? These things are pretty permanent."

Scott smiled as the artist sat down next to him. "I'm not changing my mind." He wanted a tattoo and he was going to get one.

"Okay, but, then why two bands?"

Scott shrugged. "I just like it."

"Well, don't you think that your first tattoo should be something memorable?"

" _Getting_ a tattoo means something," he argued.

"He's right," said the artist. "Tattoos go back thousands of years. The Tahitian word _tattua_ means: To leave a mark. Like a rite of passage."

"Yeah," Scott said nodding and turning back to Stiles. "See? He gets it."

Stiles folded his arms. "He's covered in tattoos Scott," he pointed out. "Literally."

The artist disregarded that. "Ready?" he asked Scott. Scott nodded his head and let himself lie back into the chair. The artist held up the tool. "You don't have any problems with needles do you?"

Scott shook his head. "No."

Stiles just stood there and watched as the artist began. He then looked at Scott's face as he gasped as the needle started working into his skin. Stiles just watched it with mild fascination. He found it hard to imagine that a couple of months ago needles, or even the thought of them, made him squeamish. But after seeing bullet wounds, claw marks into human flesh, and getting stabbed by thick hunting knives, a small needle would be nothing compared to that.

A little while later, Stiles threw himself into his Jeep with Scott following on in after him with his arm in a bandage. Stiles nose wrinkled as he felt that Scott was in serious discomfort which was shown on his face as he squinted at his arm.

"Are you okay?" he asked him.

"It kind of burns," Scott hissed out.

"Well you did have your skin stabbed about a hundred thousand times, with a needle. Taking it from someone that was stabbed with a knife, burning is normal," he huffed out.

Scott's eyes narrowed a bit at that but he brushed it off as he let go of his arm. "I don't think it's supposed to feel like this though."

Suddenly Scott jumped which made Stiles jump too. Scott now was starting to groan out like he was in pain.

"What? What's wrong?" Stiles quickly asked him.

"I told you something was wrong. It's not supposed to feel like this. I have to take this off."

Scott ripped off the bandage and they saw that Scott's skin was still bright red but the lines of ink drawn into him looked faded. And they were getting fainter.

"Whoa," Stiles said as his eyes widened.

They both watched as the tattoo started to fade and then disappeared along with the swelling.

"No," Scott whispered. "It…it healed!"

"Oh, thank god," Stiles choked out. "I hated it." That made Scott give him a small glare. "Sorry." Stiles said not feeling the slightest bit of regret for saying it. It was the truth. He then started the car and went to drive them both home.

* * *

Allison was in Lydia's car as she was driving them home after they went off and had a girl's night. Allison had recently come back to Beacon Hills only a few days ago with her dad after they spent the summer off in France. As they had hung out today for the first real time since…everything, it was clear to Allison that Lydia was firmly back on her feet. Currently, she was trying to make Allison get back on her own feet, by trying to set her up with someone along with her.

"It is not a double date," Lydia stretched out. "It's is a group thing."

"Do _they_ know it's a group thing?" she said back with an amused smirk. "Cause I told you that I'm not ready to get back out there."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "You were in _France_ and didn't do _any_ dating? Even once?"

She shrugged. She didn't feel the need to date ever since she and Scott had broken up. "Did you? I mean, after Ja-"

Lydia cut her off. "Do not say his name."

Allison nodded. "Is he okay?" she suddenly said as she realized that she didn't get too much information about Jackson while she had been away. All she knew was that he had moved away. After that night, her father pulled her out of school to take off with him for France. They had left barely a week after everything. "Did everything work out?"

Lydia had a small smirk come over her. "Well, the doctors looked like total idiots when he turned up alive," she said with a bit of a laugh but she quickly sobered up. "But, everyone got over it. And, yes, Derek taught him the whole Werewolf 101. Like, how not to randomly kill people during a full moon."

Allison smiled at that. "So, you talked to him?"

"Uh, not since he left for London."

"You mean since his dad moved him to London," she corrected.

"Whatever," Lydia said softly. "He left. And seriously, an American werewolf in London? Like that's not going to be a disaster."

"So…you're totally over him?" Allison asked skeptically.

"Would I be going out on a double date if I wasn't?" she said quickly back to her. "Yes, it is a double date. It's not an orgy," she said, back to trying to convince Allison. "You'll live."

Allison nodded. "So…do you know how Scott's been?" Lydia gave her a look. "I'm just asking because I haven't really spoken to him since I left."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and I don't really know. I think he's okay. I know he had to go to summer school but I think he's doing okay from the times I did see him."

"When was the last time?" Allison asked.

"There weren't really times. More like passerbys. I think maybe I caught sight of him five or six times all summer."

"Oh?"

"He seemed fine," Lydia said as they came to a stop at a light. "Was definitely smiling every time I saw him, though-" she said with a stretch.

Allison's face fell a bit. "Though, what?"

"He wasn't alone. Every time I caught sight of Scott this summer, they were always together."

"Oh?" Allison said with a nod. She guessed that she understood. The two of them agreed that they needed space. If Scott wanted to try being with someone new then he was entitled to do that. "But he was happy?"

Lydia tried very hard to keep a blank face. "Yeah, they both were. Laughing and seemed to be always be in the middle of having fun." She paused for a moment to see Allison's face. "They looked good which I guess was helped with him growing his hair out and have polished that Jeep of his."

Allison then caught Lydia's smirk and her eyes narrowed at her. It lasted for a moment before she looked away. Scott had been the one that she couldn't stop thinking about this summer. But Stiles had been the one that she had been trying hard not to think about. But she shook it off as she smiled at Lydia.

"You did that on purpose?"

"Did what?" Lydia asked innocently.

"You knew what I would think?"

"And what did you think? I thought you would know perfectly well who I was talking about. Unless you think something else might really be going on between the two of them. After everything we've seen, it wouldn't be the most farfetched thing to happen."

That only made the two of them laugh.

* * *

Stiles was driving down the highway as Scott was still lamenting the loss of his beloved tattoo.

"I can't believe it. All that, for nothing," he said sourly.

"Yeah. Looking back, maybe we should've seen it coming. I mean, we heal so well that we can't even get drunk. We should've guessed that getting scarred with a tattoo wasn't on the table." Scott sighed at that. "Well, let's forget that. How about we talk about the fact that we go back to school tomorrow."

Scott nodded as he settled back into the car seat. "Yeah…but not all of us. Jackson's gone."

Stiles shrugged. "Funny…I actually feel torn on that. Should I feel happy? Should I feel sad?" he asked bobbing his head left and right with each question.

Scott let a small smile and a chuckle loose. But then it was wiped away. "And…I don't know if Allison's coming back or not?"

Stiles' face went blank as he stared on ahead. Scott had tried very hard to not mention Allison's name around Stiles during the summer. It was clear that his friend's bitter feelings towards her were still holding firm and strong. As for Stiles, he knew that Scott had been holding out on having a talk about Allison. Given that Scott seemed to make an effort and go the extra mile to keep his drama with Allison in check, he decided that he would throw Scott a bone. Besides, he was curious about if Allison and her father would be around again any time soon.

"You haven't heard anything?' Stiles said to him as they came upon a red light in the mostly empty road.

"No," Scott muttered. "We agreed to give each other the summer. No texts. No calls."

Stiles eyes narrowed and he looked over at him. "So how do you know that she won't be back at school then?" he asked before his eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of the car next to them. Or rather at who was in the car.

Scott didn't notice his reaction as he just looked up at the roof and sighed. "After everything that happened, I'm not sure she's coming back at all."

Stiles' jaw stiffened. "Oh, I think she is. I'd say pretty definite." Scott then looked at him and saw Stiles face. "Like 100%," he muttered in a lack of enthusiasm. He then went and pointed over out the window.

Scott turned and saw that Allison was right there in the next car. He hadn't seen her for months but she looked as beautiful as she was when he last saw her. Better, as she was smiling and seemed to actually be happy. He found himself feeling warm and fuzzy in his stomach again as he stared at her as she smiled and laughed at something Lydia was telling her.

Where Stiles was sitting, he was also giving Allison a look but it wasn't one of marvel. The last time that Stiles and Allison had seen each other was when he had thrown her to the ground and threw the poisoned dart she shot at him at her feet. He had felt disgust at the sight of her and that feeling was back in full force as he stared at Allison's smiling face.

A smiling face that vanished as she looked over and seemed to have finally noticed them. She then looked panicked which in turn made Scott panicked.

"Oh my god," Scott said looking away.

"Oh my god," Allison said looking away at the very same time. She couldn't believe she had run into Scott, now of all times. Stiles too. Just as they had started talking about them too. She had been preparing to see them at school tomorrow and she was not ready for them now. "Oh my god, I can't see him, not now."

Lydia turned to look over at the Jeep. Stiles was looking over at them and he gave her a small wave and a simple smile. Lydia looked away. That smile seemed different from the ones that Stiles typically sent her way. The look in his eyes too. They seemed more…relaxed than the ones from the past.

Scott was freaking. "Drive. Just drive please Stiles," he pleaded to his friend.

But Stiles turned to look on ahead and shook his head. "Scott, it's a red light."

He looked and saw that the light was indeed still red.

Allison wasn't doing much better. "Lydia, just please, go."

"We can't," Lydia pointed out to the front. "The light."

Over in the Jeep, Stiles could see that Allison was freaking out just as much as Scott seemed to be. He suddenly got a really naughty, and kind of nasty idea. "Well, why don't we say hello?"

He then reached for Scott's window but Scott tried to push his hand away. "No, Stiles, don't!"

But Stiles went and managed to lower the window. "Hey!" he shouted off to them. At that Lydia then went and drove off at breakneck speed even though the light was still red. Stiles shrugged with a small smile. "Maybe they didn't see us?"

Scott sent a glare at him.

Over in Lydia's car Allison was looking back and saw that they weren't driving after them and she let out a big sigh of relief.

"You alright?" Lydia asked her softly.

Allison nodded. She would be fine now. At least she thought so until the light had turned green and the Jeep started to drive off after them.

Scott gave Stiles a panicked look. "What are you doing?"

"Driving," Stiles answered nonchalantly.

Scott saw that they were getting closer. "You're right behind them."

"Well, do you see any turns?" Stiles asked in the same tone.

"But…I don't want it to look like we're following them."

Stiles raised his eyebrows at that. "Well what do you want me to do?" They were in a winding road that had no turning junctions. The only way they could go was forward.

"I don't know! Anything!"

Stiles then sucked on his teeth and slammed his foot on the break making them just stop. "Happy?" Stiles asked him annoyed. He couldn't help feeling annoyed. Only thirty seconds of being in Allison's airspace and Scott was losing his head all over again after over three months of moving to get his act together.

Allison was shaking her head. "Lydia, stop," She sighed. "Maybe I should go over and talk to him?"

Lydia then went and stopped her car. Scott and Stiles narrowed their eyes at that. They threw each other a look and then looked back at the girls' car.

"They stopped too," said Allison as she and Lydia stared off at the Jeep. "Why would they stop?"

Lydia shrugged. "It's Stiles and Scott," she said in a tone that made it sound self-explanatory. "Do you really want to apply logic to those two?"

The two of them were still staring back that they didn't notice that there was something moving towards them. It was coming in fast and then burst right in through the window causing them both to scream. Their screams were heard by the two werewolves in the Jeep and they quickly went and threw open their doors and ran for them. Lydia and Allison threw open their doors and sprang out of their car looking horrified.

"You okay?" Scott asked as he ran over to Allison.

"It came out of nowhere," she shrieked.

Stiles had run over to Lydia. "Are you hurt?" he said looking her over for anything.

"It came out of nowhere!" Lydia was breathing deep and fast. "It ran right into us," she gasped out.

"Are you okay?" Scott repeated as he held Allison's shoulders.

"I'm okay," she breathed.

Lydia shook her head. "Well I'm not okay!" she shouted out to them. "I'm totally freaking out! How the hell did that run into us?!"

Scott moved over to see that it was an antlered deer buck. It's head had gone right through the windshield and it wasn't moving.

"I saw it's eyes before it ran into us," Lydia shrieked out. "It was like it was crazy."

Scott shook his head. "No…it was scared." Scott then went and touched it and reached down to get a good feel for the deer's emotion. Thanks to his and Stiles' training this summer he was able to pick up the deer's lingering emotions clearly, even if it was dead. "Actually, terrified."

Scott caught Stiles' eyes at that. Stiles' eyes narrowed as he went and looked over in the direction that the deer had come from. Scott turned to look too. The deer had been running straight, from the center of the paved road.

* * *

Over at Beacon Hills Hospital, Melissa McCall was going over some routine checks when two new people were starting to be wheeled in. The sight of Isaac Lahey laying on one of them made her eyes widen.

"Wait a minute," Melissa called out to the paramedic pushing his gurney in. "I know this one." She then leaned in closer to the boy. "What happened Isaac?"

"The girl," he muttered to her. "She's worse."

She took note of the injuries that he seemed to have. "Are you not healing?"

"I will, but," He tried to turn to look back but he couldn't and let himself collapse back into the gurney. "Please, just help her."

"Okay," he then looked over at one of the doctors. "Could you take him?" When the man nodded she then ran off for the girl being wheeled in behind him. "Hey."

"Find him," she said as her eyes were shut in pain and delirium. "I have to find them."

"What are you talking about?"

"I have to…I have to tell em."

Melissa shook her head. The girl seemed dazed but she sounded like she had complete sense of herself. "Who?" Melissa asked.

"The Alpha," she said as she seemed to be losing consciousness. "Find the Alpha…," she coughed out.

Alpha? Melissa remembered what Scott had told her over the summer about these kind of things and leaned in closer. "What do you want with Derek Hale?"

The girl just shook her head. "No. Not Hale."

"Okay mam," one of the paramedics said as they turned over to the operating ward. "We got it from here."

The girl was still shaking her head. "The Alpha and the-" she trailed off to herself before she widened her eyes a bit. "McCall. Stilinski."

* * *

It was early the next morning when Scott was up even before his alarm clock sounded. He was during some morning pull ups as he was trying to finish the last book on his summer reading list: The Call of the Wild. Stiles had recommended it to him, said that he would like it and he had to admit, he did. When he was done, he tossed it over next to a stack of other paperbacks that he had read this summer while he went to his computer to see the new Word of the Day. It was-

"Ephemeral," he read aloud. "Lasting for a short time. Transient. Momentary." He then looked at his arm at where his tattoo had been and then rubbed it sadly. "Ephemeral," he muttered as he went to get ready for school.

* * *

Stiles had been up before his alarm sounded just as Scott had. However, his eyes were pouring over news records on deer related incidents. The deer incident got to him but not because he was afraid. But because he was concerned. An incident involving deer on the night before school started, it had happened once before and he remembered what followed. For it to happen again he knew that this couldn't be a simple coincidence. Stiles clicked on a new page as he heard his father walk to the door but didn't look away.

"You know how many vehicle collisions last year have involved deer? 247,000."

The sheriff just shook his head. "Oh god, just please, go to school."

Stiles kept his eyes on the screen. "But that was just crossing the road. This one came right down the middle." And there wasn't one of record that was like that.

His dad walked on in. "I'm not going to beg you."

"Good," Stiles said still not taking his eyes off the screen. "I'm impervious to your influence anyway."

The sheriff nodded. "You consider a bribe?"

"You couldn't meet my price," Stiles said not losing a beat.

"Extortion," his dad tried again.

Stiles shrugged. "You've got nothing on me, believe me," he said with some amusement.

"Yeah," his dad muttered. He then went and grabbed the back of Stiles chair and started to pull him away from the computer.

"What are you doing?" Stiles said as he was being pulled back. "Dad."

Stiles tried to keep at the desk and he anchored himself in with his strong grip and stopped his dad from pulling him further but his feet weren't anchored and his dad pulled the chair out from right under him and he fell down to the ground.

* * *

Allison was already dressed for school before the alarm went off but she was sitting in bed after it rang and just looked out the window. The view was different to what she was used to. They may be back in Beacon Hills but not at their old house, they had moved to a small apartment now as they had no real need for a big place anymore, considering that everyone else was gone. It was just two of them. Her father slowly walked into her room but she kept her gaze at the window.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said in a small voice.

Her father then stepped further. "You know, you could wait until tomorrow. The first day can get pretty tough."

She shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded with a small smile.

He smiled too. "You could wait a week if you want," he playfully offered.

But Allison shook her head. "No, I kind of promised Lydia that I would drive her now that her car is wrecked. So, I should go."

Her dad nodded. They both looked at each other for a moment before he offered her his hand to help her up. She took it and stood up where they immediately went in for a warm hug. This wasn't going to be an easy time but they would have to get through it as best they could, together.

* * *

Lydia was in her room, applying her makeup in the mirror. She was satisfied with what she saw. She smiled at her hard work and then reached for a jacket.

"You look good." Lydia turned to look at the half naked guy in her bed. "So you think we could go on a real date sometime?" the guy asked him as he sat on her bed with his arms behind his head.

"Mmm," was all Lydia said.

The guy's face fell a bit. "Can we have sex again?"

"Mmm," Lydia said again before she grabbed her bag with a smile and made her way out the door leaving the guy alone as he went off to try and get dressed downtrodden.

* * *

Scott rode in his new motorbike into the school parking lot and parked out in front. He took a look at the school and smiled at it and down at his bike. He loved that he now had his own ride for the start of the school year. His face fell a bit when he saw the two beautiful, matching motorcycles parked right next to his. Scott made his way into the halls of the school and put his things away in his new locker and quickly found Stiles. He had an idea about his problem and wanted to run it through him.

Stiles' eyes widened. "You want to ask Derek for help? What? Why?"

"He has that triskele tattoo on his back," he reminded him. "So there has to be a way to do it without healing."

Stiles nodded as his eyes were focused on something else. "Yeah, but Scott, don't you think he kind of has his hands a little full?" He then pointed out the bulletin board where there were two posters. Posters of both Erica and Boyd that declared them as missing persons.

Scott's face fell a bit. "You hear anything new on them?" he asked him softly.

Stiles gripped the straps on his backpack. "No," he said sadly. "Last I heard was that Derek was still searching with Isaac and Peter." His eyes narrowed. "Have I said how much of a bad idea it is to keep that guy around?"

"At least once a day," Scott muttered out.

"Then let me hit my quota. It's a bad idea to keep that psycho around after everything he's done and pulled especially when he went and brought himself back from the dead."

Scott agreed with Stiles. He didn't like the idea of him around them like this but it looked like Peter Hale wasn't a call for him to make. "Well, he's not an Alpha anymore so he can't really do anything to any of us now. At least nothing that we can't handle. And he did help us save Jackson," Scott reminded him.

Stiles gave him a look. "Right, and I'm sure he did that out of the goodness of his furry, warm and zombified heart."

The topic was cut short when they heard a loud voice complaining from the Principal's Office. The two of them moved over to see that it was Principal Thomas. He was back at school again. When Gerard had gone, Stiles had made sure to send Thomas an anonymous message that told him so and that it was safe and clear to come back.

"Whatever happened to the library while I was gone, I want it cleared up. And what the hell is this?" he asked as he lifted up a long sword left behind by Gerard.

At the sight of it, Scott and Stiles went and walked away quickly.

* * *

Allison was organizing her new locker as Lydia stood beside her observing the hallway. Or rather at all the boys in the hallway.

"Freshmen," she said. "Tons and tons of fresh men."

Allison took a look herself before she looked back at her. "You mean fresh boys. Lydia, they're fourteen."

She shrugged. "Some are more mature than others.

"You know, it's okay to be single," Allison argued. "Focus on yourself for a while. Work on becoming a better person."

Lydia just smiled. "Allison, I love you. So if we have to do that thing where we talk about me, pretending that we aren't actually talking about you." That made Allison laugh a bit. Lydia's face softened. "It's going to be fine," she said assuredly. She then let out a smile of mischief. "But, I don't want a boyfriend. I want a…distraction."

Her eyes then went off for the far corner of the hall where she froze as caught the sight of two guys walking down the hall together. Two good looking guys that were identical.

Allison noticed them too. "Brothers?"

"Twins," Lydia said in a bit of a gasp.

* * *

Scott was sitting in English class getting his books ready when he looked up as Allison and Lydia stepped into the room. Lydia went off and grabbed a seat by the windows and Allison was going to get the one in front of her but someone went and sat in it. She looked around but found no vacant spots, save for one that was right in front of Scott. He was twitting his fingers and threw a soft smile her way. Allison took a deep breath and headed for his direction. As she did though, she caught sight of Stiles sitting at the seat next to Scott. He was twirling a pencil in his fingers and was looking at her too with his eyes narrowed. She went and focused her gaze on Scott's warm and gentle face.

Allison pointed to the seat in front of Scott. "Is anyone-"

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "It's all yours. Totally vacant," he said a little breathlessly.

Allison nodded until her eyes went right back over at Stiles. His hard gaze was still on her hadn't changed in the slightest and her smile fell. She went and quickly and sat down in her chair and held a hand to her now sweaty forehead. This was going to be a long day.

Scott looked over at Stiles and shot him a look. Stiles shrugged and inaudibly asked him "What?' before Scott then looked away. As awkward as he and Allison were feeling with each other, it seemed that it would pale in comparison to what they would be like with Stiles thrown into the mix. Those thoughts vanished when he saw that his phone got a text. He opened it to find a long message that looked like the passage from a book. And he wasn't the only one. One by one, everyone seemed to get a text. Scott looked back at Stiles who showed him his phone and saw that it was the same one that he got. It looked like everyone had the same one.

Suddenly a voice sounded off. It was a woman and she was reading the text out loud to the class. "The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness." When she finished, she was in the front of the desk in the front of the class. "This is the last line to the first book we are going to read," she said to all of them with a smile before she held up her phone. "It is also the last text that you will receive in this class. Phones off everyone."

They then turned their phones off.

* * *

Melissa was with Isaac as she lifted his bandages to the claw wounds he received. The wound wasn't as severe as it was when he was first brought in.

"Yeah," she muttered. "It's healing…visibly. Wow," she said before shaking her head. "Yeah, they can't see this. Nobody can see this."

"Alright, cover it up," Isaac insisted.

Melissa moved to cover it back up but she smiled uncomfortably at him. "I don't think that's going to matter. You're scheduled for surgery, which obviously is going to be very confusing to a lot of people."

Isaac let a frustrated breath out. "Can you do something?"

Melissa's eyes widened. "Me do something?" she said skeptically. "I'm relatively new…to all of this and there's a sheriff's deputy stationed right outside the door."

"Did you try calling Derek?" he asked her.

"Like five times."

"Do you have any other emergency werewolf contacts?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Call Scott." Melissa eyed him tensely. "And, if you can't reach him, then try Stiles. They'll know what to do."

Melissa headed out of the room as an attorney was out in the hall arguing with the Sheriff. When he caught sight of her, he quickly ducked out from speaking to this man and headed for her.

"Hey Melissa," he said making her stop and turn to face him.

"Hey," she said to him breathlessly.

"Can you help me out here?"

"Okay."

"Since the amnesiac in 215 can't tell us anything," He then pointed behind him to the other room holding the girl Isaac came with. "I need the girl with the modified stun gun in 216 to answer a few questions."

Melissa just shook her head. "That's kind of unlikely since she's heavily sedated."

What she didn't know was that the girl had removed her IV needle and was squeezing the sedative out along the side of the bed.

"Great," the Sheriff huffed out. "Well, when she un-sedates, will you give me a call? She's got about 10 grand worth of property damage to answer for and I don't want her to just walk on out of here."

"Yeah, sure."

He smiled at her. "Thanks."

Melissa then walked on off to try and reach Scott by phone. "C'mon Scott, c'mon. Pick up." But there was no answer and her calls kept going to voicemail. His phone was probably off. She looked up at the clock and guessed that he was in the middle of class right now. That meant that reaching Stiles might not work either. She would have to try something else to reach him.

Unbeknownst to her, a woman in scrubs was quietly walking passed her and going for Isaac's room. She moved on in and closed the door behind her as she eyed the boy trying to sit up in his bed.

"Hello Isaac," she said to him with a calm smile. "How are we feeling?"

"Good," he said before pointing to his IV needle. "Listen I think we could unplug this now." But the girl pushed him to lie back down and then went to push a needle into the IV machine. "What is that?" he asked as he watched her push on the plunger.

She shrugged. "Just an anesthetic," she answered before she smiled and leered at him. "We don't want you getting away again."

Isaac's eyes widened at her just as the anesthetic started making its way into him. It caused Isaac's head to drop a bit and he looked down to see that the nurse's feet were bare and there were razor sharp nails on each toe. His heart started to pump faster but that only made the anesthetic go through his system more quickly. He was starting to feel sleepy.

"Count with me Isaac," she said. She then lifted up a clawed finger. "One." Then another clawed finger. "Two." She then held up a third and her eyes went red. "Three."

Isaac then lost consciousness.


	2. Tattoo part 2

Chapter 2: Tattoo part 2

The class was silent as they took down the notes that their new teacher Ms. Blake was putting down for Heart of Darkness. Allison went and handed Scott a note from ahead of him. He took it and opened it up to see that she was asking if they could talk. Scott was writing his reply when Principal Thomas came in and said some words to Ms. Blake.

"Mr. McCall?" she called out to him. Scott went over with his things and was told that his mother had called and asked that he come and see her at the hospital right away. Ms. Blake quietly escorted Scott from the classroom. "I'm sure that it's an emergency if your mother needs you to leave school, but I'm going to give you a warning. In the nicest possible way," she said quickly. "I'm well aware of your attendance record. I don't want to see you slip back into old habits."

Scott shook his head. "I won't," he assured her. "It's going to be different this year."

But Ms. Blake just shook her head. "Resolutions are only good if you stick with them Scott."

"I will," he said not losing a beat. "I promise it won't be ephemeral."

But back in the classroom, Stiles snorted but still narrowed his eyes. He had overheard everything that had been said. He wondered what was going on exactly that would have Scott's mom pull him out of class like this. Since she had never done anything like that before, he guessed that it was something werewolf related. Stiles let a breath loose as he looked over at the window for a moment. He didn't know why but he was sniffing. He was feeling a tingling feeling go up his spine as his eyes looked out into the distance. He then shook his head a bit to lose that feeling when his eyes went over to Lydia. She was calmly reading her notes with a smile on face. Stiles thought it was a nice look for her and way better than that airy expression that she always seemed to have last year. She didn't seem to be trying to not look as smart as she really was. It looked to him that resolutions were trending around lately.

But his eyes fell down and noticed that there seemed to be a scrape on the bottom of her leg, just above her foot. "Hey Lydia," he whispered to her and caused her to look at him. He pointed to her leg. "Is that from the accident?" He hadn't remembered Lydia being hurt. Freaked, yes, but not hurt.

"No, Prada bit me," she said to him before turning back to her work.

Stiles eyes narrowed. "Your dog?"

"No, my designer handbag," she said back sarcastically. Stiles just kept his narrowed gaze on her. Lydia saw that he seemed serious about this for some reason. "Yes my dog," she huffed out with a nod.

Something inside of Stiles didn't think this felt right. "Has it ever bitten you before?" Lydia shook her head. For some reason, that feeling Stiles had got worse. Last night, with that accident, something didn't stir well with Stiles. He thought it might've just been being around Allison again after so long but maybe it was more than that. Maybe his instincts were trying to tell him something. Tell him that the deer, and now Lydia's dog acting up were more serious than at first glance. "Lydia, you know how animals start acting weird before an earthquake happens or something?"

"Yeah, so?" Lydia said looking over at him. "You think there's going to be an earthquake?"

"Or something. Animals acting weird, that's happened before."

"When?" Lydia asked half-interested.

Stiles' stared back at her with a grim look on his face. "When Peter was on the loose." That made Lydia's eyes narrow a bit. Stiles remembered when Scott had run into those deer in the woods, the behavior of the animals in the preserve that his dad had found, and not to mention the mountain lion appearing in the parking lot. It was because of The Alpha prowling about. "Maybe the deer and the dog sense something's coming. Something bad."

Lydia was feeling a bit uncomfortable now but she didn't want her or Stiles to lose their heads. "It was a deer and a dog," she said to him. "What's that thing you say about three's. Once. Twice."

But she was cut short when a bird went and flew into the window making a loud bang and leaving a spot of blood on the window. Everyone in the classroom jumped at that and stared at the mark of blood left behind. Everyone went quiet and they could suddenly hear the faint sound of squawking birds. Ms. Blake went over to the window where she saw that the sky was covered with birds. And all those birds were flying in the same direction. Right at them. Soon they were hitting the windows one after the other like the first bird did until one finally broke through. That made all the students start freaking out.

"Get down!" Ms. Blake yell out to the class.

The birds kept flying into the room and they started to savagely peck and scratch at anyone they could. The students went and started to hide under their desks. Others tried to crawl off to a corner but were being hurt by the birds. Ms. Blake was pulling two students to take cover behind her desk and help a boy that was getting scratched at his face.

Allison saw a bird hurting a girl in front of her and went and slapped the bird off her head.

Stiles threw his desk aside and went to shield Lydia who had three birds hovering over her. He covered her with his body. The birds kept pouring in by the droves and some started to peck at Stiles' back. Stiles felt a burn travel up his spine and he let a growl loose from his throat up at the flock that wasn't truly heard over the sound of bird caws and people's screams. However, the birds on him suddenly flew off and made to fly out of the window. Suddenly all the birds started to frantically flee out of the room. Some flew out the window and others flew into the walls and into the closed doors trying to get away from the werewolf in the room.

Suddenly the sound of birds stopped and everyone started to settle down as they came up from their hiding spots. Lydia lifted her head to look at Stiles and her eyes widened.

"Stiles," she whispered panicked. "Your eyes and teeth."

Stiles ran his tongue behind his teeth to feel that his fangs had set in and he felt a burn in his eyes which meant that they were glowing gold. Bright gold. He quickly closed his eyes and put a hand to his face to try and cover the sight of his fangs.

Ms. Blake stood up and started to walk the room. "Is everyone okay? Are you alright?" she went around asking. Her eyes then went over to where Lydia was running her hand across Stiles' back as he was bent over with his hand covering the bottom half of his face. "Uh, Mr. Stilinski? Are you alright?" she said stepping over to him.

Stiles turned to look over at her, his face completely normal but a bit sweaty. "Yeah. I'm okay," he coughed out.

Ms. Blake nodded her head. "Good."

He nodded slowly at her but stopped mid-nod as his nostrils flared. There was a strange scent in the air all of a sudden. One that had nothing to do with the hurt and scared people in the room or the feathers and blood left behind by the birds. For some reason, it made a tingle travel up his spine a bit unpleasantly.

* * *

With Isaac sedated, the female Alpha stalked off for his companion's room but found that the bed was empty and the deputy guard was knocked out and was handcuffed to the railing. She let out a frustrated bark.

Over at the hospital entrance, Scott disembarked from his bike to see that his mother was waiting for him. They then took off together for the entrance as she told him about Isaac and the girl being brought in last night.

Scott was shocked. "Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked her as they stepped into the hospital.

She huffed. "Honestly, I was hoping I didn't have to."

"What do you mean?"

"Uh, it's just, everything you've been doing. The extra reading, the summer school, saving up for the bike even though it scares me half to death." She let a frustrated breath out. "Honey, I just didn't want to stop a good rhythm."

Scott stopped and immediately grabbed his mother's hand. "It's not going to stop," he said to her the same way he said it to Ms. Blake. "I'm going to be better this year. A better son. A better student. A better friend. A better everything," he finished determinedly. "I promise."

Melissa gave him a look and seemed to calm down a bit. "Okay. He's in Room 215 if he isn't already in surgery," she quickly told him.

"Thank you." Scott gave his mom a quick kiss on the cheek before he moved to try and get to Isaac.

Melissa let a sigh loose as she watched him run off before she moved to try and find a way to begin smoothing everything over. She didn't see that the girl was limping over for the entrance of the hospital in her gown.

Scott got to the elevator and moved to hit the button for it to go up but as the doors closed, a cane appeared in the slit before the doors could fully shut. They opened and Scott looked to see that a blind man was trying to move on in.

"Could you hit the button for the second floor please?" he asked Scott.

Scott saw that it was already lit because that was where he was going but instead of saying something he just pushed it again for the man's benefit. "There," he muttered as he did.

"Thank you," the man said to him. The elevator doors then closed and they moved up. When they got to the floor, they opened but the man moved his cane to stop Scott before he could leave. "You wouldn't mind helping me out for a second, would you?" he asked Scott.

"Uh," Scott started as the man went to grab his shoulder. Scott deflated. "Sure."

He slowly led the blind man out into the hall and Scott let his head drop as he got frustrated. Keeping to his resolution to be a better person certainly wasn't going to be easy in the midst of all of this.

* * *

Isaac had been moved to surgery and was under heavy sedation as the doctors all moved to begin the operation. However, the head surgeon removed the bandages and his eyes widened.

"What the hell is this?" he said to the room. "Someone want to explain this to me?" He pointed over to where the bandages had been to reveal that there was no sign of a wound at all. "Here's an idea," he said savagely pulling his surgical mask off. "How about you wheel this joker out of here and get someone that actually needs to be operated on? Now!" he roared over at them all. "I'm going to go smoke."

The doctors all began to clear out of the room. One of them began to wheel Isaac out but his surgical gloves had claws poking out of the fingers. The werewolf pushed Isaac off for the hall to where there was a wheelchair waiting. He took off his surgical mask and cap and went to get the chair.

Scott had left the man at the desk like he wanted to go and then ran off for Isaac's room. He looked in and saw that it was empty which means that he must've been taken to surgery. He then headed off for the elevator to get back to his mother when he saw that there was already a nurse moving for it. He was wheeling in someone that was revealed to be Isaac. The man in scrubs slowly turned around. He smiled as he revealed his clawed hands moving for the elevator buttons to push for the down button. Scott immediately brought out his own claws and roared at him as he brought out his fangs. The doors started to close and Scott quickly ran and then jumped on in before they could fully shut. When they did, the two of them fully shifted and stared each other down. Scott saw that his eyes were bright red meaning he was an Alpha. But he didn't care. He had to get Isaac out of there. The Alpha quickly grabbed Scott and flung him into the wall making the lights above them flicker. Scott fell to the floor and the Alpha grabbed him and threw him off for the opposite wall. Scott let out a pained groan as he was then lifted up and thrown straight up into the roof and then fell back down to the floor hard. Scott barely was able to lift his head before the Alpha then went and grabbed him again and started to lift him up by his throat.

"Don't you know what you're dealing with," the guy spat at Scott. "I'm an Alpha."

But the elevator doors opened and a new set of claws were rammed into the guy's back making him drop Scott. He and the Alpha looked over to see Derek standing there.

"So am I," he said before he threw the guy out of the elevator and made him slide off across the floor. The doors closed and Derek looked down at Scott. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?" he asked.

Scott just rolled his eyes and let himself slump on the floor.

* * *

Over in the classroom, there were paramedics helping out people and parents checking on their kids. Stiles was off to the side, texting what had happened to Scott, Derek, Isaac, Boyd, Erica and whoever else he felt should know what happened. He looked over at his dad as he was studying the broken windows.

To the side was Allison who was being looked over by her father.

"Next time I tell you that I feel you should stay home, you stay home," he said to her.

She let a sigh loose. "I'm okay," she muttered to him. "Dad, the deer and now this. It all can't be a coincidence."

They were soon joined by the Sheriff. "Mr. Argent," he said as he came over to them. "You wouldn't happen to have any insight into this, would ya?"

"Me?" he asked surprised at why the sheriff would be coming to him. Allison seemed to share his shock.

"Yeah. With this bizarre animal behavior, you must've seen something like this before, right?"

"Uh, I'm not sure how or why you would think I would," he said as he smiled a bit nervously at him.

"Oh," Sheriff Stilinski said before pointing his thumb back to his son. "Well my son said that you happen to be quite the experienced hunter. Said that you like to do it all the time."

Both the Argents looked over looked over at Stiles who lifted his head from his phone and sent them a pointed look.

"He's just being bashful dad," he said to them as he went and slowly smiled. "He's really good. I heard that his father taught him everything he knows." At Stiles' look, Chris subconsciously went to rub at his arm where the scars from Stiles' claws were. "Even went and started to show Allison the ropes." Stiles looked over at Allison who was staring blankly back at him. "And boy, they're strong ropes, aren't they Allison?" he asked her with a smile that was not the least bit happy as it looked.

Allison turned her head away to not look at Stiles as she tried not to glare outright in the view of the Sheriff. Stiles' father didn't know about any of this and it seemed that Stiles was using that to try and get a rise out of the two of them in front of everyone when he knew they couldn't.

Her father looked at Stiles and cleared his throat before looking back at his father. "Yes, we used to hunt," he said a bit uncomfortably. "But not anymore. After everything that's happened…we decided to put it behind us." He could see Stiles snort out of the corner of his eye.

The sheriff nodded. "Oh. Right, of course. Well, thank you for your time."

Stiles' dad then started to head on out and Stiles went and hopped off the desk with his bag and followed out right after him. Before he left the room he turned to give the Argents another blank look which they returned before Stiles stepped out the door. Both Allison and her dad then looked over at each other. The two of them knew that returning to this town wouldn't be easy but it looked like someone was going to go out of his way to make it harder.

Stiles made his way out of the classroom with a satisfied look come over his face. On any day, he would say that they should all let bygones be bygones but not this time. Allison and her family were the ones that started all of it last semester. They went and threatened, hurt and even shot at them when this all was new and confusing to them and didn't ask for any of it. The two of them and the rest of their family tried and nearly killed him and Scott as well as Derek and his pack. Terrorized and tortured them. If they thought they could just take off after all of that and then come back to hugs and smiles then Stiles would gladly set them straight. They had a lot to answer for and he for one would never let them forget it. He certainly couldn't. Not with him having quite a few nightmares about all of it during the summer though he didn't tell Scott about them. Or about how he still sometimes felt…phantom pains from being stabbed in the gut by Gerard and twisting the knife. His hand went unconsciously to that spot for a second before he dropped it.

He watched his dad get flagged down by the Principal and he decided to just keep on walking. He took out his phone and made to try and call Scott again but stopped in the middle of his scrolling when he felt someone bump into him. Actually two someones. He saw that they were twins.

"Sorry," he said to them.

"It's alright," one of them said with a shrug.

"Don't sweat over it," said the other.

Stiles nodded and then walked off as he tried calling Scott again to tell him about what just happened. The twins watched as he walked off with predatory leers in their eyes.

* * *

Derek kicked the door to his house open as he carried Isaac inside with Scott right behind him. He was on the phone as Stiles had decided to call him then and there.

" _Scott, we have a serious problem at the school. Ms. Blake's class was_ -"

"Yeah, can you tell me about it later," Scott said as he followed Derek into the Den.

" _Uh, well no. I'm pretty sure that this qualifies for immediate discussion._ "

Scott sighed. "Alright. Then meet me at Derek's."

" _Derek's house? What? Why the hell are you_ -"

But Scott cut him off. "Just meet us here, okay?" He then hung up and moved over to where Derek had set Isaac down on the floor. He took a look and saw that the place looked even more ruined and in disrepair than he remembered. "You don't still live here, do you?"

"No. The county took it over but there's something here I need." He was moving aside planks in the floor as he dug down for the floor beneath. "It'll help heal the wounds from an Alpha."

Scott's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Yeah, but it did heal."

Derek shook his head. "Not on the inside." He then pulled out some herbs.

Scott jaw tightened a bit. "Hey, are you going to tell me who that was back there?" he asked him. "That Alpha."

Derek went still for a moment. "A rival pack," he said looking up at him. "It's my problem. I know that you want to help and you did. I owe you one. Now go home," he said picking himself up. "Go back to being a teenager."

Derek then went over to Isaac with the herbs and he began to prepare the treatment. Scott turned to head on out when he stopped and then placed his hand to his shoulder. At the spot where his tattoo had been.

"Uh Derek, if you want to repay that favor now…there is something you can do for me."

* * *

School was being cut short today as they tended to the incident with the birds so Allison was waiting for Lydia as she went to grab her bag from her locker.

"Is it just me or is Beacon Hills turning into a beacon for the totally weird and supernatural?" Lydia asked rhetorically.

That made Allison smile in amusement. They were about to head on off when they were approached by a young woman.

"Where's Scott McCall?" she asked them. Or rather Allison. "You're Allison right?" she asked.

"Yeah," she said slowly. "How did you know-"

"Where's Scott?" the woman said cutting her off.

"Uh…he had to leave," she told her.

"Well what about Stiles? Stiles Stilinski. Is he here?"

"No," Allison said shaking her head. "You just missed him. He left."

The woman then grabbed Allison's wrist. "Are they coming back?"

"Whoa," Lydia said rushing to her friend's defense. "Ease up-"

But the woman grabbed Lydia's arm as well. Her grip was tight as she gave them each a hard look before she looked over their shoulders to the twins eyeing her from across the hall. She then took off. Allison and Lydia looked back to see what scared her but saw only kids, including the twins they noticed earlier walking off. Allison tried to go after the woman but saw no sign of her.

Lydia looked down to see that her arm had a bruise where she was grabbed. "She bruised me," she said to Allison tilting her head feeling annoyed.

Allison checked out her arm to see she had one too. "Yeah, me too."

Allison's dad then walked up over to them. "C'mon, let's get you girls out of here. School can wait another day." Lydia lightly grabbed her arm but walked on off. Allison however was staring off in the opposite direction. "Sweetheart?" he said to her. Allison just huffed and shook her head annoyingly. He then went to take her by the shoulders. "Hey," he said softly to her. "You don't have to worry about this anymore. Remember our agreement? We stay in Beacon Hills but only if we stay out of this," he reminded her. "It's not our problem now…okay?" Allison went and gave him a small nod. "Okay, let's go."

* * *

The Sheriff made his way over to the animal clinic following a report given to him from the station. He went to seek the expertise of Alan Deaton about it.

"We've had 15 calls in the last hour." He then started to pour it all out. All the madness that has turned up. "I've got a suicidal deer. Birds flying through windows. Pets behaving aggressively. I gotta tell ya, I'm starting to think there's something in the water," he said folding his arms up.

Deaton nodded. "To be honest, I was just about to call you about an incident of my own." That made the Sheriff's face fall. Deaton then started to lead him further inside. "At first, I thought I might've had a break in. Some sick individual looking to release some kind of violent impulse. That is until I got a closer look and realized what really happened." He then opened the door to the room where the animals were kept and the Sheriff's eyes widened in shock. "They did it to themselves."

All the animals in the cages were all dead but that wasn't the shocking part. They looked like they were ripped apart as blood and bits of fur were stuck to the linings of their cages. It looked like they had rammed and torn themselves apart against the metal linings. Now the Sheriff was starting to think that there was more than some bad water being the cause for this sudden rush of animal madness.

* * *

Stiles arrived at Derek's house and filled the two of them immediately on the incident that happened at the school. Likewise, Scott went and told Stiles about the attack at the hospital. When the explanations were done, Derek told Scott to sit so that he could give his tattoo a look. Scott went and bared his arm out as Derek used his red eyes to look deeper.

"Yeah, I see it. Two bands right?" Scott nodded. "What does it mean?"

Scott shook his head. "I don't know. It's just something I traced with my fingers."

He then moved to make the two bands in the dust of a table. Stiles' eyes narrowed. The bands he drew on the table seemed more like circles then simple bands to him. Derek seemed stumped himself.

"Why is this so important to you?" he asked him.

"Do you know what the word tattoo means?" Scott asked.

"To mark something," Stiles said before Derek could even say anything.

But Scott shook his head. "That's in Tahitian. In Samoan…it means: _Open Wound_." That made both Stiles and Derek's faces soften a bit. "I knew I wanted to get a tattoo when I turned 18. I've always wanted one. I just decided to get it now to make it a kind of reward."

"For what?" asked Derek.

"For not calling or texting Allison all summer." Derek nodded at that while Stiles tightened his jaw a bit but his eyes stayed soft as he sensed how Scott was feeling. "Even when it was so hard not to sometimes…I was just trying to give her the space she wants. The space that we felt we needed. Four months later…it still hurts. Feels like…

"Like an open wound," Stiles gently finished for him.

Scott nodded. "Yeah."

Derek nodded to as he went to grab the blowtorch off the table. "The pain's going to be worse than anything you ever felt."

Stiles eyed the torch and nodded. "Oh, great," he said with his usual wittiness.

But Scott let out a deep breath and nodded. "Do it."

Derek then lit the blowtorch and the sight of the flame made both Scott and Stiles' eyes widen.

"Yeah," Stiles said. "That's enough for me. I'll take that as my cue."

He started to head off but Derek stopped him. "Nope," he said grabbing him. "I need you to help hold him down."

Stiles then went over to stand behind Scott and grabbed his shoulders as the two of them eyed the torch's flame as Derek began to move it closer.

"Oh my god," Stiles muttered before the fire made contact with Scott's skin.

Scott gasped. Derek hadn't been joking or exaggerating. The pain was excruciating. Really worse than anything he ever felt. He started to grunt and scream as Stiles gripped him harder.

"Hold him," Derek said to Stiles.

"I am," Stiles spat back.

Stiles then grit his teeth and then went and pushed even harder on Scott's shoulders as he tapped further into his strength and his eyes glowed gold as the veins in both of his hands began to run black as he started to pull some of Scott's pain into himself. His breathing started to quicken as he kept it up and the black started to run up his arms and travel up his neck to his head. That made his fangs appear as he bared his teeth out.

Scott was baring his own fanged teeth as Derek started to drag the blowtorch along his arm. He let out a fresh loud scream as a new part of his arm started to feel the intense heat and pain and his eyes burned gold in response. He could feel the pain lessen a bit every other second and felt a cooling feeling start to come from the spots where Stiles was holding him and knew that he was taking as much pain from him as possible to help him through this but, even with that, it was still intense. But Scott bared it. Just a bit more and it would be over.

"What do you say Scott? Still want that tattoo now?" he heard Stiles grunt above him.

Scott just painfully groaned in response as he took deep, rapid breaths.

Derek looked up and noticed what Stiles was doing and saw the pain run all the way up Stiles head. "Hey. Not so much Stiles," he scoldingly told Stiles. "Taking in so much pain at once is a big risk. A dangerous one."

"Just hurry it up!" Stiles roared at him as some sweat started to run down Stiles' brow.

Derek let out a huff and kept dragging the torch letting out some more fresh screaming from Scott.

* * *

The woman moved through the halls of the school quickly and found herself in the locker room. It seemed empty but she knew that it wasn't safe. She spotted a mop leaning on the wall and grabbed it and quickly broke the bristle part of it off leaving her with only the stick. She gave it a test spin before she went to move and duck behind some lockers across the room. She tried to calm herself a bit but she stiffened when she heard the door opening. She heard footsteps and took a quick look to find a bunch of shadows start to pour into the room. Five sets of them. She took a deep breath and then came out ready to confront them.

First the twins moved in on her. She barely was able to fend them off with her stick before the big man moved in on her. He slammed her against the wall and growled at her face. She went and pushed as hard as she could on the stick to get him off of her but she quickly was surrounded by the twins who went and scratched at her with their claws. Then the woman came over and readied her claws. She then jumped and landed a hard kick right across the woman's face that sent her flying to the ground. The female Alpha growled hard at her which was joined by the other three who growled alongside her with each of their red eyes gleaming down at their prey. Their last man was off at the side, wiping at his clawed hands with a towel as he then went and grabbed his walking cane before calmly moving over to her. He then went and put his sunglasses to cover his own pale red eyes. He got to be right in front of her before he went and kneeled down at her.

"Beautiful," he said as he ran his clawed fingers over to get a good feel of her face. "Defiant, aren't you?"

"Because I know something," she spat at him. "I know you're afraid."

"Of teenage boys?" he asked skeptically.

"Of the men that they'll become," she said defiantly.

He just smiled. "I'm aware of the potential threat one of them poses but the other actually presents quite the opportunity, potentially. One that men like me only could dream of seeing happen in their lifetime."

The girl shook her head. "You won't succeed. They won't let you have either of them. They'll protect each other from you."

"Yes," he said calmly. "As formidable as they are by themselves, together…the two of them are quite a force to be reckoned with. But as remarkable as they are, they are still just teenagers. Teenagers are at the mercy of their feelings. Also, someone once taught me that the smart way to eliminate a threat was to get someone else to do it for you. And I have the perfect someone already in mind to help me get what I want."

Her eyes widened. "Derek," she gasped.

He then went and raised his hand up and struck his claws at her head making some blood spread on the lockers nearby.

* * *

Allison was watching as Lydia was placing color samples against the wall of her new room to help her decorate.

Lydia help up a dark shaded pink one. "This one. It's perfect," she said trying to convince her.

But Allison squinted her eyes. "I don't know. I was kind of thinking maybe a shade of blue," she said holding up a dark blue one next to it. But then her eyes fell upon their arms and her expression darkened. "Lydia, look."

Her eyes went to the bruises that the girl gave them to see that they were two halves to a whole. And together they formed some kind of weird symbol.

* * *

Scott was lightly panting a bit with his eyes firmly shut. His whole face was a sweaty mess and he was looking a bit pale. His whole body felt hot and light. If it wasn't for Stiles taking his pain he was sure he would've passed out long ago. The torch had been removed from his arm for over a minute but he still had his eyes closed as he was too afraid to look.

"Well?" he asked.

"Take a look," he heard Stiles say.

Scott slowly opened his eyes and turned his head to look at his arm. Right there, were two bands that he had wanted. His tattoo was completely visible. The skin around it wasn't even inflamed. It looked healed and normal but the tattoo wasn't vanishing this time. Scott let out a delighted gasp as he turned to look over at Stiles and Derek who were standing off to the side watching him. Stiles looked a bit pale and winded himself from pulling so much of the pain Scott had felt during it all but he was smiling. Derek was just watching him calmly with the blowtorch still in his hand.

"It worked," he smiled at them.

Stiles shrugged. "Yeah, but I still hate it." Scott just kept his smile up at him.

Derek rolled his eyes. "You should take it easy for the rest of the day, both of you," he said looking between the both of them before he went off to finish cleaning up.

Scott moved to get his clothes back on but kept the sleeve up to let the tattoo shine in all its glory.

Stiles gave it swipe with his finger. "Yeah, it looks pretty permanent now."

"Yeah," Scott said before finally rolling his sleeve down. "I kind of needed something permanent," he said shifting into a low tone. "Everything that's happened to us. Everything's just changing so fast. Everything's so…ephemeral."

Stiles nodded with his bottom lip out. "Studying for the PSAT's?"

"Yeah."

"Nice."

Scott then moved to open the door when he stopped. He looked at it and noticed that there was a fresh coat of paint on it. "You painted the door." Scott then looked over at Derek and narrowed his eyes. "Why'd you paint the door?"

Derek looked over at him. "Go home Scott."

But Scott just ran his hand over it. "Why only one side?" Scott raised a claw at the door and ran it across to see that there was something underneath.

"Scott," Derek said running over.

But Scott just went and started to quickly claw it. He didn't stop until he went and revealed a symbol that had been put on underneath. It looked like a warped and triangular version of a triskele.

Stiles eyes narrowed at it. "What the hell is that?" he asked as he went to touch it.

But before Derek could say anything, Stiles ran his hands over it and he let out a gasp. His eyes snapped shut and his hand went to grasp his head and fell back a bit. But before Derek or Scott could rush over to help him, it stopped and Stiles' eyes opened and he was breathing a little hard.

"Stiles, are you okay?" Scott asked him.

Stiles took a few seconds to get his breathing under control. He then put his hand over at the side of his head. "I saw it," he said in between breaths.

"Saw what?" Scott asked him.

"Them," he gasped out. He let his breathing settle a bit before pointing to the symbol. "I saw them…leaving that on the door."

"What? Like a memory?" Scott asked him. Was it like how he remembered Peter calling him to the school bus that night long ago and how Stiles remembered the night they were bit?

But Stiles shook his head. "No, it's different. It's like…I know that I wasn't there to see it…but I still could see it like I was right there."

Scott then went and ran his fingers on the symbol like Stiles had but nothing seemed to happen to him. "How did you do it?"

Stiles shook his head. "I don't know. I can't switch it on and off. It's weird, but this time it all went by faster but all of it was so much clearer to me."

Derek's eyes widened. "This has happened to you before?"

"Yeah," Stiles nodded. "I told you about it, remember? When I saw when you visited Erica to ask her into taking the bite. After she attacked me and I put her back in the depot for you to find and my hand had brushed on her leg where you touched her."

Derek stilled. That's right, Stiles had mentioned that before, the night they were at the school pool. But then he had been so distracted by the Kanima that he hadn't put much thought into it. "Any other times?" he then asked Stiles.

His eyes narrowed. "Well…one more time. It happened again with both Erica and Boyd at the Argents. I was trying to help them when I touched one of their wounds and saw-" But he stopped.

"Saw what?" Scott asked.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "I saw when they were caught by Allison and her father." Scott let his gaze drop a bit at that. Stiles just looked over at Derek. "Is this normal?"

Derek was silent for a moment. "It's a rare ability but not unheard of."

He knew that Stiles was listening for a lie and knew that Derek hadn't. But it wasn't the full truth either. Yes, it was rare ability…for Alphas. Usually, the only time werewolves could see things outside their own memories was through clawing someone at the back of the neck to connect with their spine. Derek had heard of a few werewolves being able to pick up foreign memories by mere touch but that was only ever seen by a few Alphas which Stiles definitely wasn't. Something was officially going on with this kid. Stiles has been quite a natural on many things when it came to being a werewolf but he was starting to tap into things that bordered on impossible. He hadn't forgotten what happened the night of the Rave when the kid broke the mountain ash line. That was something that not even Alphas could do but Stiles did, albeit drained him afterword. And he seemed to be clueless about how truly remarkable it all was.

Scott looked back over at Stiles. "What did you see exactly?"

Stiles thought back to what he saw in that moment. Images. People. Faces. "I saw five of them. Four guys and a woman. All of them with…red eyes."

"Alphas?" Scott gasped out and his eyes widened. But then they narrowed as some things came back to him. "The deer. How it acted…just like the deer I saw in the woods that night we got bit. And the mountain lion that night at the school. They were all acting strange because of Peter when he terrorized the town. Now all of these animals…it's because of them, isn't it? Everything before was from one Alpha. This is happening because of these _five_ Alphas, right?" he asked Derek. Derek took his gaze off Stiles and went and nodded at Scott. "Who are they?"

"A pack," said Derek. "An Alpha pack."

Stiles' eyes widened. "A pack of Alphas? How does that even work?"

"I hear there's some kind of a leader," Derek started to explain. "He's called Deucalion." He then let a sigh out. "We know that they have Boyd and Erica. Peter, Isaac and I have been looking for them for the last four months."

Scott and Stiles were surprised. They couldn't believe that they hadn't known about any of this all this time. They thought that things were actually going great. It was unsettling to find out that they couldn't have been more wrong.

"Why?" asked Stiles. "What do they want?"

"We don't know," Derek said to him.

Scott moved over to him. "So…you find them…how do you deal with an Alpha pack?"

"With all the help I can get," he said.

Stiles nodded. "Then I can help you now," he said drawing both of their eyes to him. "I saw each one of them. Their faces too." Stiles saw all five of them clearly. One of them was a really big and scary looking man. Next was a woman that didn't wear shoes so that she could show off the sharp claws on her feet. Then there was a leaner looking man with a blind man's cane and had dark sunglasses on but the red glow of his eyes could still be seen through the lens. But it was the last two that had his focus now. Identical Twins. "And I think I met two of them today and know where to find them," he said to them grimly.

Scott tensed up. He had come up against one of these Alphas at the hospital but Stiles had met two? "Where?" he asked.

But before Stiles could say anything else.

"Where is she?" they heard. The three of them looked over to see that Isaac was conscious now. "Where's the girl?" he asked them.

They traded looks before Derek went and asked: "What girl?"

* * *

Over at a dark room, there was a symbol painted on the floor of what looked like a dark room with bars. Sitting and leaning on one of the walls was Boyd. His hand was shaking but it stopped when someone went and grabbed it comfortingly.


	3. Chaos Rising

Chapter 3: Chaos Rising

Allison was driving her and Lydia off in her car while Lydia was tracing the bruises on her arm. She then put their arms together again.

"I don't know," she said. "It doesn't look like much to me."

But Allison was determined. "No, it's a pattern. It means something."

"You really think that Scott's going to know what it is?" Lydia asked doubtfully.

"No," she admitted. "But, he might know someone who does."

"But how do you know it even means something at all?"

"Because, that girl wasn't just looking for Scott. She said that she needed to find him. Like she had to find him and that means something."

"And Stiles," Lydia said making Allison look away from her to the front. "Allison, that girl was looking for both of them. Maybe…we should go to Stiles instead?" she said trying to tread delicately. After all she could practically cut the tension and hostility between them with a knife. "I mean, he does seem to be the one that knows more about this kind of thing."

Allison let a heated puff from her nose. Stiles' jabs and taunts back at the school were still fresh on her mind. "No, we go to Scott first." She said it in a way that clearly said that the matter was settled.

Lydia let out a small sigh and then let her back fall flat against her seat as Allison went and drove them off faster.

* * *

Scott and Stiles were both walking down the sidewalk passed a few houses as they were heading towards a house that had a few people already in front of it.

Stiles looked over and saw Scott looking at him. "What?" he asked.

Scott's eyes widened. "What do you mean what?"

"I mean, _what_? And you know what."

" _What_ what?" Scott said back.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "That look you were giving."

"I didn't give a look," Scott defended himself.

"Oh, it was a distinct look Scott," Stiles spat back.

"What look?" Scott said raising his voice a bit.

"The look that says the last thing you feel like doing is going to a party."

Scott huffed. "It's not that. It's just…weird to be going to another high school's party."

Stiles shook his head. "Trust me Scott, it'll be fine. Have a drink and meet some new people, you'll be fine. Besides, I went to nursery school with this girl. She promised that she would introduce us to all of her friends. Girl friends," he emphasized. When he got the invite, Stiles had taken it as a sign. With Allison back in town, Stiles could see that Scott was edging towards going right back on that trail of treachery that led back to that young hunter. Scott was really turning himself around and the last thing he wanted was to see Scott start to drop back in the dumps again, for Allison. "Okay, we need this," he continued. "No Allison. No Lydia. Tonight, we are moving on."

At the mention of Allison, Scott felt his phone vibrate and took it out to see that Allison was trying to call him. He wanted to pick it up…but he found himself just dropping the phone back into his pocket. With both Ms. Blake and his mother telling him that they were worried about him slipping back into his old habits, he had said that it would be different. Before, whenever Allison had come into the picture, he had dropped whatever he was doing to go straight to her. If he did it again, he might not stop and really would just end up right where he was before. "You're right," he said to his best friend.

"Damn right I'm right," Stiles said happily.

Scott nodded and took a deep breath. "Moving on."

"Onward and Upward," Stiles said resolutely.

Scott nodded. "Let's do this."

Stiles was pumped now. "That's what I'm talking about. Now love me."

The two of them did their new patented shake that they came up with this summer and then headed for the house. They were cool and calm until Scott's face fell a bit.

"How's my breath smell?" he asked Stiles nervously.

"I'm not smelling your breath," Stiles said easing a bit away from him.

"Gum?"

"No. No gum. Scott, you're fine."

"Okay. But, at least tell me what kind of party this is."

They went inside to see other high schoolers shouting, laughing, dancing and enjoying drinks.

"The good kind," Stiles said looking from all of it to Scott with a side grin.

Over at the other side of the room, there was a group of girls making a big cheering toast for one of their own. The birthday girl, Heather.

"It's my birthday!" she shouted out to them as they started to drain their cups. She then pulled her friend aside and whispered in her ear.

Hey eyes widened as she finished. "Tonight?" she asked Heather.

"Tonight," she nodded.

"For real?"

"Yeah," Heather said.

"Uh, you know your first time is usually sort of gross and it kind of hurts."

"That's not for me," Heather shrugged off.

"No romance? No waiting to fall in love?" her friend pressed.

Heather shook her head. "When I fall in love, I want to be good at it."

Her friend rolled her eyes. "Oh lord, you at least got yourself a target of opportunity?"

Heather looked off and saw two new guys walk in on her party. One of them immediately caught her eye. "Stiles!" she cried out and went over for him. "Hi!"

"Hey!" he said back happily. "There's the birthday gir-"

He was cut off, by Heather's lips. She went in and kissed him to the surprise and marvel of both of their best friends. They then softly broke apart with soft expressions on their faces.

"So glad you could make it," said Heather not losing a beat.

"Yeah, me too," said Stiles not losing a beat either.

Heather moved her head off for the side. "Come downstairs with me and help me pick out a bottle of wine."

Stiles let a smug smile make its way to his face. "Yes," he said before Heather went and lead him away. He threw a smile back at Scott before he started following after her.

Scott just stood there, a little shell-shocked before a small smile and a chuckle started to come to him. Maybe this was a good idea after all. He noticed Heather's friend and went over to her. "Hey," he said to her.

The girl just gave him a look over and then just walked away like she wasn't impressed. Scott gave himself a look to try and see what seemed wrong when he felt his phone vibrating again. He took it out and saw that Allison had gone and sent him a text. She seemed to really want to reach him. He thought that it couldn't hurt to read the text she sent. It said that she wanted to talk. It was just like her note in class. He thought that maybe, deep down, the real reason he had wanted to come here with Stiles tonight was not just to try and move on, but avoid a talk that he knew had to happen between them sooner or later. Well, Stiles was off moving on and having fun from Lydia but he had given himself the time and chance to let his feelings about her out. Maybe he can't begin to do the same thing until he and Allison did the same. He then went and texted her back with the address and told her he'd be waiting out front.

* * *

Heather opened the door to the cellar and started to make her way down with her hand gripping Stiles' forearm. Stiles followed eagerly behind her and his smile widened when they reached the bottom. She started to take off her shoes as Stiles looked around at all the shelves of wine that were set up down there.

"Wow. I remember when we were little kids and we came down here all the time though I don't remember all of this," he said before Heather went and pulled him in with another kiss. One he eagerly returned for a moment before they broke apart. "I don't remember that either," he said softly to her before he smiled a bit.

Heather then went and pulled Stiles further into the cellar and they ducked behind a row of wine bottles. "Stiles, I just turned 17 today. Do you know what I want for my birthday?"

Judging from the strong scent of arousal coming from her and the sound of her heart speeding up, Stiles had a pretty good idea. The combination of those two things made the wolf inside him howl and his insides heat up. His face went into a predatory leer. "A bike?" he joked with a raise of his eyebrows.

Heather went and pulled on Stiles shirt to move her hands to feel the skin just above his pants. "To not be a 17 year old virgin." She then went in for another kiss but let out a surprised squeal as Stiles moved his hands to the small of her back and pulled at her and lifted her feet off the ground without breaking the kiss.

Stiles found that Heather was light as a feather as he lifted her and held her up a bit into the air as he got them to be leveled so that he could kiss her easier. He felt his wolf howl in satisfaction from her gasp she released into him as he pulled her in tighter and closer. They made out for a bit until Heather started to move her hands down to Stiles' belt.

Stiles pulled himself away a bit. "What?" he said breathlessly. He then lowered Heather back to her feet.

Heather just smiled breathlessly up at him. "Don't you want to?" she asked.

Stiles raised an eyebrow. "Do I want to?" he repeated incredulously. "You're seriously asking me that?"

Heather responded by fully unbuckling his belt. "Have you never done it either?"

"Me?" He let out a shrug before he caught Heather giving him a look before he let out a breath. "Okay, no."

Heather then went and pulled on his jeans to pull him to her. "Then?"

Stiles responded by pulling Heather in for another kiss. It last for a few seconds before he pulled away abruptly. "Oh crap."

"What?"

"Uh…I don't have any…"

Heather shook her head. "Oh, that's okay. My big brother's got some."

Stiles widened his eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah. Upstairs bathroom."

"Okay, you want me to go get one?" he asked pointing over to the stairs.

"Yeah," Heather nodded.

Stiles nodded too. "Okay." He then went and gave Heather a quick kiss. "Hold that thought." He then started to move but nearly fell when he pants started to fall a bit from his belt being loose. He quickly fastened it back before moving off.

Stiles then ran off up the stairs and out of the cellar leaving Heather to let out a breath she was holding as she eagerly waited for Stiles to come back. She started to walk aimlessly and just went and randomly took a wine bottle out of its place to give it a look. She then put it back in time for the whole shelf to start shaking. It was followed by the shelf behind her also shaking but then it all stopped.

"Stiles?"

Heather then looked and noticed a bottle turning in its place as it slowly was moving out until it just went and fell to the floor and shattered. Heather gasped and moved away.

"Okay, this isn't funny!" she spat out.

But then another bottle quickly flew from the shelf and shattered on the floor. And then another flew off and shattered against the wall. Soon, bottles started to fly off and shatter everywhere. Heather started to cry out in fright and terror as she tried to find a way out of there. She backed into some broken glass and cut her foot on them. She let a small shout of pain loose on that but kept moving to try and get away from more bottles flying around. She backed up until she hit the wall just below one of the basement windows. As soon as she got there, the bottles stopped flying off and breaking.

For a moment, Heather thought it was all over. That was until she heard a faint noise above her and looked to see that the window was softly opening. A shadow started to descend over her and she caught a glimpse of the one casting it. She let out a scream and even shouted Stiles name just as she was grabbed and pulled out through the window kicking and screaming.

* * *

Scott watched as Allison's car pulled up but saw that she wasn't alone. Both she and Lydia came out of the car and walked over for him. Scott looked from Lydia back to Allison. Or rather the expression on their faces. They looked shaken and freaked.

"This isn't the talk that we were going to have before, is it?" he needlessly guessed.

Allison shook her head. "I need to show you something." She then moved her sleeve to reveal the bruise that the girl had left on her arm.

* * *

Stiles weaved his way through the sea of people and finally made it to the upstairs bathroom. He looked through all the shelves and cabinets frantically.

"C'mon," he muttered. "Where are they?" He then opened a drawer and started shifting things around until he found a box of condoms. "Oh yes," he said snatching them up.

His face then fell when he saw the size of them. He gave himself a look over and then shrugged as he took a packet, put it in his pocket and threw the box back into drawer. He then went off and started to nearly sprint all the way back down the stairs to try and get back to the cellar. He twisted and weaved through the people for a second time as his ears vibrated from the sound of a scream. A girl screaming. Screaming his name. In terror.

Stiles started to push people out of his way as he moved for the basement door. "Heather!" he roared out as opened it. Stiles then went and took a great leap as he jumped from the top stair all the way to the bottom landing on his feet. He then ran over and saw that there were bottles broken on the floor. Stiles started to sniff the air and caught Heather's scent. And also the faint scent of blood. Her blood that seemed to be coming from the floor as it was mixed in with wine. He guessed that Heather must've cut her feet on some broken glass but, in this case that was good because it would make it easier to find her. He followed the scent and saw that it was leading out one of the windows that was ajar. Stiles went and leapt right out through the window, making the glass explode out as he crashed through. He shook the glass off his shoulders before he let a low growl loose and then broke into a hard run.

* * *

Scott shook his head as he looked at Allison and Lydia putting their arms together to show him the pattern their bruises made.

"Uh, no, I don't know what it is. I've never seen anything like that before," he softly told them. "You say she put these on you two?"

Allison rolled her sleeve back down and nodded. "Yeah, after she said she was looking for you…and Stiles too," she added abruptly.

Scott narrowed his eyes. "Why would she want to see us?"

"We don't know," said Lydia. "So, nothing about this is clicking in that werewolf mind of yours?"

Scott smiled at her joke. Lydia seemed to be coming into all of this nicely. "No, I'm afraid not. Stiles has always been better when it came to this kind of thing. He might know something."

Lydia's eyes widened. "Oh, Stiles," she said before looking over at Allison. "Why didn't that come to us?"

Allison rolled her eyes at her. She then let a frustrated breath out. "Can you get him please?"

"Sure." Scott moved to head for the house when his ears perked up at the sound of exploding glass followed by a growl. A familiar growl. "Stiles?" he called out before he broke into a run.

"Wait. Scott. Scott!" Allison called out after him before she and Lydia ran off to go after him.

Stiles was running through the brushes between some houses as he tried to follow Heather's scent. After a half a minute of running, he was starting to hear some faint and scared whimpering just outside of his hearing range.

"Heather!" he cried out.

He came upon a playground and started to sniff the air and then found the trail. But, before he could take another step, the streetlights around him and in the playground started to flicker hard and then there was a gust of wind that came rushing at him from out of nowhere. It was carrying bits of grass and dust that blew off at his face. He braced himself as it lasted for a couple more seconds but it then vanished. Stiles wiped at his face but widened his eyes. His nose…he couldn't smell anything but…flowers. And not any kind of flower he was familiar with but, in the back of his mind, it smelled familiar. He just couldn't remember where he had smelled this from. But it didn't matter now as he lost Heather's trail.

"Damn it!" Stiles said before he went and angrily slammed a fist right into the concrete making it crack a bit. He stayed there for a good moment, panting and crying, as the lights around flickered on and off.

"Stiles!" He looked up and saw Scott running towards him. "Stiles, what the hell happened?"

"She's gone! They took her!" he gasped out to him.

"Who?"

"Heather!"

"Scott!" Allison cried out as she and Lydia finally caught up to him.

Lydia noticed Stiles kneeling on one knee on the ground and looking worse for wear. "What happened? What's wrong?"

Scott just looked from Stiles to the girls and let out a heated sigh as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

* * *

Isaac was staring out of the window of Derek's new loft with his Alpha sitting not too far away. The place wasn't much now but it suited their purposes for now. Derek had a plan for finding where Erica and Boyd were and while Isaac was all for it, he wasn't for who it was that had to be involved.

"Does it have to be him?" he asked Derek.

"He knows how to do it, I don't. It would be more dangerous doing it myself," he explained to him as he was reading one of his books. He was trying to find some kind of explanation behind how Stiles was tapping into abilities that he shouldn't be able to do. So far, his search was coming up short. It certainly didn't help that he couldn't ask for help because that would mean getting more people involved which he couldn't do.

Isaac looked away from the window and faced him. "You know…Scott doesn't trust him. And I trust Scott. Stiles says he's bad news too. And I trust him too." With everything that those two did to try and help him a couple of months ago, even after he had been an ass to them both, he couldn't help but respect them.

"Do you trust me?" Derek asked him while giving him a look.

Isaac stared back. "Yeah," he said as Derek looked away. "I still don't like him."

"Nobody likes him," Derek muttered nonchalantly.

Just then the front doors slid open and Peter stood there, looking them over with a smile. "Boys, FYI, yes coming back from the dead has left my abilities somewhat impaired but my hearing still works. So, feel comfortable saying whatever it is you're feeling. Straight to my face."

Derek looked up at his uncle's face. "We don't like you," he said bluntly before he slammed his book shut. "Now shut up and help us."

Peter shrugged. "Fair enough." He then brought his claws out. "Sit," he told the boy. Isaac went to sit in a chair and faced him but Peter could see him get tense. "Relax," he said. "I'll get more out of you if you're calm."

"How do you know how to do this again?" Isaac asked.

"It's an ancient ritual used mostly by Alphas. Since it's a skill that requires quite a bit of practice, one slip and it could render someone paralyzed or kill them."

Isaac's eyes widened. "But, you've had a lot of practice though, right?" he asked trying to conceal his nervousness, and failing.

Peter looked at him. "Well, I've never paralyzed anyone," he said with a smile.

"Wait, does that mean that you-"

But Isaac was cut off by Peter digging his claws right into the back of Isaac's neck. Suddenly, Peter was overtaken with fogged images. He saw Boyd, alive but barely conscious. Isaac started to thrash around and Derek moved to try and pull them apart but Peter stopped him as he had started to see more. He saw two people want on in and grab someone next to Boyd. They were resisting but were still carried out, however it was too blurry to make out who it was. Then, Peter saw a man watching it all, with a cane. Peter then pulled himself away from Isaac and the two of them were gasping deeply as they tried to calm themselves down.

"What'd you see?" Derek asked Peter.

He shook his head. "Uh…it was confusing. Images…vague, shapes."

"But you saw something," Derek pressed.

"Isaac found them."

Isaac was holding the back of his neck as he looked grimly at Peter.

Derek's eyes widened. "Erica and Boyd?"

"It was glimpses," Peter shook.

"But you did see them?" Derek hissed.

"And worse," he muttered.

Derek tensed. "Deucalion." The look on Peter's face confirmed it. Derek went to sit down. He may have feared it but it was now official. Deucalion had Erica and Boyd. Getting them back would definitely not be easy.

"He was talking to them. Something about…time running out."

"What does it mean?" Isaac asked in a low voice.

"He's going to kill them," Derek said to him.

"No," Peter cut in. "He didn't say that. He made them a promise that by the full moon they would both be dead."

"The next full moon?" asked Derek.

Peter looked back at him. "Tomorrow night."

That meant that they didn't have much time. They had to find them and fast.

* * *

Scott called Derek to meet him and Stiles at the school claiming that they might have something that could help them find Erica and Boyd. He came but was surprised to find the two of them waiting with Allison and Lydia as well. They were showing him the mark that was bruised onto their arms and Derek was regarding it with mild interest. Both Scott and Stiles didn't know what it was so they were hoping Derek might.

"How's a bruise going to tell me where Boyd and Erica are?" Derek asked aloud as he went to glare at Allison who was glaring back.

"It's the same on both sides," Scott said in their defense. "Exactly the same."

"It's nothing," Derek shot back.

Allison just kept up her glare while Lydia smiled at him.

"Pareidolia," she said. "Seeing patterns that aren't there." But Derek and Scott were looking lost as Stiles just nodded from where he sat. "It's a subset of Apophenia," she further explained but the two of them were still lost.

Scott just shook it off. "They're trying to help," Scott said to him.

Derek snorted. "These two?" He then pointed to Lydia. "This one who used me to resurrect my psychotic uncle, thank you," he finished with a nod before pointing to Allison. "And this one, who shot thirty arrows into me and my pack."

Stiles then raised his hand. "Oh, and don't forget shot me with a poisoned dart and helped take me to her home where her psychotic grandfather stabbed and tortured me. Let's not leave that out," he said sarcastically. He was in a very bitter mood as he hadn't really slept last night after failing to find Heather. "Oh, and nearly getting us all killed. There's that too," he shot out.

"Thank you Stiles," said Derek. It was impossible to tell if he was genuinely thanking him or was being sarcastic himself.

"My mother was killed," Allison shot back.

"Your family's little honor code killed your mother, not me," Derek said lowly to her.

"That girl was looking for Scott. I'm here to help him, not you."

"Oh, is that all?" Stiles muttered out making her look to glare at him. "You're back to help Scott?"

"Yes," she said a bit angrily. "Why else would I be here?"

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Oh, I don't know, maybe to finish what you and your family started?"

"Stiles," Scott shot at him. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. Stiles stared at him for a moment before he looked away from them all angrily.

Derek turned to Allison. "You really want to help. Then find something real."

Derek started to leave but Scott went and stopped him. "Hey, give her a chance. They're on our side now."

"Well then maybe you should tell her what her mother was actually trying to do that night," he said back to him before he went off and slammed the door open as he walked through it.

Scott huffed as he turned back to look over at Stiles who just widened his eyes at him to tell him that he heard and agreed with Derek. He then unsympathetically grabbed his bag and walked out of the classroom himself. Scott looked over at the girls to see that Allison had folded her arms and was glaring off at the floor while Lydia was looking uncomfortable as she rubbed the back of her neck.

* * *

Scott was running off to catch Stiles as he was walking across the quad. He managed to grab his shoulder but Stiles shook his off.

"Don't start with me Scott."

"Stiles, she didn't deserve that."

Stiles nodded as he kept on fast walking ahead. "Yeah, you're right. She deserves a lot more than that."

"Look," Scott pressed. "She feels bad about what happened and she's sorry. She apologized."

"Yeah, to you Scott," he said pointing his finger over at him. "She's sorry about how what she did affected you and apologized to you. She's not sorry about what she did to us or apologize to any of us. Least of all to me."

"Try to see her side of it," Scott said in her defense.

"I do Scott. She's mad about Derek biting and me attacking her mother that night. But, you can't say that the woman didn't ask for that."

"Stiles!" Scott growled at him.

"What?" Stiles growled back.

"That's not fair. Okay, she doesn't know-"

Stiles then stopped walking and faced him. "Yeah, she doesn't. Because you won't tell her. Okay, and until you do, she's going to keep up that whole hurt and righteous act with us. Okay, so either you tell her truth and soon…or I will." Scott's eyes narrowed at him. "Who do you think it'll be better for her to hear it from? Besides, don't you think we have bigger things to deal with besides your ex's PMS? Like the fact that the Alpha Pack has Erica and Boyd and is going to kill them by the full moon? Or that Heather was just taken away last night?" After last night, Stiles had jotted down the Alpha Pack as his number one suspects for the kidnapping.

Stiles then took off. Scott stayed there and let out a frustrated breath at the top of his head to move the fringes of his hair. As much as he wanted to settle this, the issue of Allison had to be put on hold, again. Saving these people had to come first. He then moved to catch up to Stiles.

"Yeah, you're right. But, first things first, we have to find where they have them."

"Right," Stiles mumbled as he calmed down and went into his investigative element. It helped him keep all of these simultaneous thoughts in check. "But, what would an Alpha Pack want with Erica and Boyd anyway? Or even Heather?"

Scott shook his head. "I'm not so sure it's them they want."

"You mean Derek? You think they took them to get to him? You think they might be recruiting? That would explain Erica and Boyd but not for why they would want Heather."

But Scott froze when he seemed to sense something. He looked off and his eyes fell on the backs of two guys, twins, walking off from the other side of the quad. "Stiles," he mumbled over to him as he pointed them out.

Stiles looked over and caught the twins' backs too. They made a turn and he caught sight of their faces. He looked over at Scott who was staring back at him and wordlessly asked him if they were the ones he had told him about. Stiles narrowed his eyes gave a nod. Those two were the Twin Alphas he had seen from when he touched their mark.

* * *

Over in Economics, Coach Finstock went and slammed the textbook down on the desk to draw everyone's attention.

"The stock market is based on two principles. What are they?" he asked the class. Scott raised his hand. Coach held his hands out to him. "Yes McCall, you could go to the bathroom," he said dismissively. "Anybody else?"

Scott lowered his hand. "No Coach, I know the answer."

That made the Coach burst out in laughter. He stopped when he noticed the look in Scott's face. "Oh, you're serious."

"Yeah. It's risk and reward," Scott answered drawing most of the class to look at him.

And Coach's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Wow! Who are you and what have you done to McCall? No, don't answer that. I like you better. Much better." He then looked out to the rest of the class. "Does anyone have a quarter?"

"Yeah," Stiles said as he dived into his pocket.

He then pulled out a quarter but also made the condom that he still had in his pocket from last night shoot out and land a few feet from Coach's feet.

He moved and picked it up. "Stilinski, I think you dropped this," he said as he handed it to him and got the quarter from him. "And good job," he whispered audibly to him making a few in the class laugh.

Scott smiled at him until he noticed the look on Stiles' face. He looked sad and hurt. Scott took a moment to think about it and his eyes widened as he seemed to understand. Stiles quickly took the condom and put it back into his pocket. He had forgotten that he still had the thing, the one that he didn't get a chance to use.

Coach then made it to the front of his desk. "Put the quarter in the mug, win the reward." He then took a mug from his desk and put it on the floor. "Okay, watch Coach." He moved a bit away and then flicked the quarter off as it bounced on the floor and then flew right into the mug drawing in applause. He then took the quarter back. "Okay…Danny. Risk/Reward?"

"What's the reward?" Danny asked.

"You don't have to take the pop quiz tomorrow."

Danny straightened up. "Coach, it's not a pop quiz if you tell us about it."

"Danny, I really expect more from you at this point. Really." He then went over to Scott. "McCall. Risk/Reward? The risk: if you don't put that quarter in the mug then you have to take the pop. The quiz," he quickly corrected himself. "And, and you have to write an essay. Risk: More Work. Reward: No work at all. Or don't play at all."

Scott looked over at the quarter. "But, isn't this all chance?"

"No," Coach shook his head. "You know your abilities. Coordination. Focus. Past Experience. All factors affecting the outcome. So…what's it going to be McCall? More work, no work or choose not to play?"

Scott regarded the coin as he thought on Coach's words and how they had more meaning than even he seemed to realize. Stiles seemed to understand too as he looked over at him and waited to see what he chose to do. Scott went and put the quarter down.

"No play," Coach said as he snatched it up. "Okay. Then who will?" Stiles slammed his hands on his desk. "Alright then. Come on up Stilinski."

Stiles would take the risk. He was pretty confident in his skills and he couldn't pass up the chance to take some off of his workload, especially with what was going on around here. Stiles went and focused his gaze on the cup and readied for his toss.

"Stiles," Coach said to him as the door opened.

"Yeah, I got it Coach," he said keeping his eye on the cup.

"Stiles." That one wasn't Coach. It was his dad. And he was with another deputy. "I need to talk to you."

Stiles stiffened. If he wanted to talk than it must be about Heather. After Stiles couldn't find her, he put in a call to his dad. He knew that he wouldn't find her but he knew that it was what he had to do. He wondered if he really did find something? He was heading on out but Coach flagged him down before he could fully walk out the door.

"Stilinski," he said making Stiles stop right there. "The quarter."

Stiles didn't turn around. He just let out a deep breath and then tossed the quarter behind his back where it then landed inside the mug with a metallic clang. That made Coach's eyes widen comically. Stiles shut the door behind him and moved to his dad in the center of the hall.

"You find her?" he asked.

The sheriff shook his head. "No. We're still looking. We put out an APB on her. But Stiles, many of the people from the party we spoke to said that you were the last one to see her. That you took her into the basement and forensics found traces of her blood on some of the broken glass from the wine bottles in there. And some traces of her hair right by the outside of that broken window...as well as fibers from your shirt."

Stiles widened his eyes. He hadn't really gone into too many specifics or came up with an explanation for his dad. He had been so torn up about losing track of Heather that he didn't think of a story to tell him to explain all of that. He had to tell him something quick. "No, she took me there. And I had left the basement and came back and found it like that. When I saw all the broken bottles and the window I knew something had happened to her. I told you that. That's why I called you."

The sheriff rubbed at his head. "Yeah, I know. But then why did we find fibers from your shirt?"

Their conversation was being eavesdropped by Scott from inside the classroom. He could feel that Stiles was getting agitated about all of this. Stiles had tried to help Heather and he was being interrogated as a possible suspect, by his own father. He knew that his dad didn't mean to sound so accusing but he was just trying to do his job. Stiles couldn't tell his dad the truth but he had to tell him something.

Stiles knew that the shirt fibers must've come from when he jumped through the window to try and track down Heather's scent. He had to come up with something good, quick. "Yeah, my shirt. When I saw the broken window…I jumped up onto the railing to try and look outside to see if I could find her. I guess I caught my shirt on some of the glass when I did that."

His dad nodded. "Okay. Stiles I hear what you're saying and it makes sense…except for one thing. Why did you suddenly leave her there alone?" Stiles looked down at that one. "Stiles," he said drawing his eyes back up at him. "If you really had nothing to do with this…I need you to tell me the truth."

Stiles let out a deep breath. "I needed something. I had to leave to get it."

"Okay, what was it?"

"Dad-"

"Stiles," his dad cut in.

Stiles bit the inside of his cheek and then reached into his pocket and then pulled out the condom.

From inside the classroom, Scott could smell all the awkwardness and discomfort coming pouring out from the two. He was snapped out of it when he heard the jingle of the coin as it fell into the mug.

"Yes!" Danny cried out in victory.

"Reward!" Coach said to him. "Alright, who's next? Greenburg, put your hand down. You don't have a chance."

Outside the room, as embarrassed as Stiles was right then, he was also worried. His dad said he needed the truth and he just gave him a truth…but not THE truth. The WHOLE truth. And he didn't want to. Things were getting bad again and the last thing he wanted was for his dad to get dragged into this and lose him to all of this madness…just like he just lost Heather.

* * *

Over in the library, Allison was trying to draw a complete version of the mark to better find out its meaning since Scott, Stiles and Derek couldn't help them on that. Her computer was open to a search for ancient symbols but so far there was no match for the one on their arms. Lydia was sitting across from her and was eyeing the two twins that had just walked into the library with unflinching eyes.

"I want one," she said sternly.

Allison looked up at her and then looked over at the twins herself. She had to admit, they were kind of hot. "Which one?" she asked with a smile.

Lydia gave her a look. "The straight one obviously."

Allison narrowed her eyes and went to look at the twins again. She saw that Danny had just entered and walked right by them and gave them a smile which one of them eagerly returned. Danny was so distracted that he bumped into someone and that seemed to make the twin staring at him let out a satisfied smile. Allison went to look back at Lydia just as she put down her coffee cup and she noticed something. She took a closer look and noticed the logo on the cup. It looked like an ancient symbol itself.

"What if…what if it's not a symbol but actually a logo," she realized. But she looked up to see that Lydia wasn't there anymore.

She found her with the straight twin talking about the book he had in his hand, with smiles on both of their faces. She then went over and started a new search on her computer. This time, for logos.

* * *

"What would they want with Heather?" Scott asked Stiles after they left Coach's class.

"To turn her maybe? Derek said it's easier to turn teenagers," Stiles said frantically.

"But what would Alphas want with a beta? They're an Alpha pack. Wouldn't having a beta defeat the purpose?"

"Scott, I don't know and I don't really care. Okay, this girl…our moms were best friends before mine died. I mean we used to take freaking bubble baths together. We've been friends since we were three, okay? I got to find her." He had been talking faster and faster as he waved his hand frantically around.

"Hey," Scott said grabbing Stiles hand to try and calm him. Stiles' pulse was racing and if he kept this up, he might just shift here in the hall. "We'll find her. Okay?"

Stiles closed his eyes and started to slow his heartbeat and calm down. "Okay," he said when he was settled down.

"Okay," Scott nodded.

"Where do we start?"

Scott bit the bottom of his lip for a moment before he nodded. "Okay, I think the best way to find them is to help Isaac remember."

"How? Peter and Derek couldn't do it."

"Well, what about you?"

"Me?"

"Yeah. Like when you saw the Alphas when you touched the door. Maybe you could see where Isaac was if you touch where they slashed him."

Stiles shook his head. "Scott, I told you that I can't control it. It just happens on-off. I can't just get it whenever I want."

"You should at least try."

"Okay, and what if it doesn't work? Then what? You know any other werewolves with special tricks that could actually help?"

Scott's jaw tightened a bit as he stopped walking. "Maybe not a werewolf…but someone who knows a lot about them."

* * *

After school, Scott and Stiles headed for Derek's new loft where Stiles tried to see if he could get something off Isaac. He touched the space where Isaac had been wounded by the Alphas but he shook his head as he didn't get so much as a flash. All he got was a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach that felt like…fear, but that wasn't going to tell them much. Then Scott told him of his backup plan.

They soon found themselves in the Animal Clinic where Deaton had a tub of water ready and Scott, Stiles and Derek were filling it with ice. Isaac was off to the side with Deaton eyeing it a bit freaked out.

"Obviously, it's not going to be particularly…comfortable," Deaton said to him. "But, if we could slow your heart rate down enough then you'll slip into a trance like state."

"Like, being hypnotized?" Isaac asked him.

Deaton nodded. "Exactly. You'll be half-transformed. It will allow us to access your subconscious mind."

Isaac got down and eyed the ice tub that he was to be dipped in.

"How slow does his heartrate need to be?" asked Scott.

"Very slow," he answered.

"Well how slow is very slow?" asked Derek.

"Nearly dead," Deaton shrugged.

That got the two of them to eye him widely. Stiles let a tense breath out as he looked over and noticed something.

Isaac dipped his hand onto the water but pulled back at how cold it was. "It's safe though, right?" he asked nervously.

Deaton looked down on him. "Do you want me to answer honestly?"

Isaac looked away and shook his head. "No, not really."

There was a snap that drew them all to see Stiles had snapped on one of the long sleeve operating gloves.

"What?" he asked as he noticed the looks. "Don't we have to hold him down?" Derek just glared at him and Stiles let out a frustrated puff of air as he went and snapped it off and then moved over to the tub and rolled up his sleeves..

Isaac went and pulled off his shirt and shoes and eyed the tub. He took a breath and then started to step into it and quickly sat down. The cold water started to make him breathe a little harder as Derek and Scott grabbed his shoulders and then pushed him under.


	4. Chaos Rising part 2

Chapter 4: Chaos Rising part 2

Isaac burst through the surface of the water and he was half-shifted.

"Get him back under," Deaton told the others.

Isaac moved to try to get out and all three of the other wolves moved to keep him under. Scott and Derek grabbed at Isaac's arms and chest while Stiles grabbed at his legs and they tried hard to keep him in the water. He pushed and struggled against their grip and started to splash water everywhere.

"Hold him," Deaton told them.

"We're trying!" Derek shouted out at him.

They kept pushing at him to stay under until Isaac finally just stopped. He then started to just lay in the water and then they let him go. Isaac gently floated with his face breaking the surface.

"Okay," Deaton muttered to them. "Now remember, only I talk to him. Too many voices will confuse him and draw him out." The three of them each nodded to show that they understood. Deaton then leaned in closer to Isaac. "Isaac," he started calmly. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes," he spoke out. "I can hear you."

"This is Dr. Deaton. I'd like to ask you a few questions, is that alright?" His voice sounded hypnotic. His eyes were unflinchingly focused on Isaac's face as he spoke.

"Yes," Isaac answered.

That got Scott, Stiles and Derek to lean in closer themselves but they kept silent.

"I want to ask you about the night you found Erica and Boyd. Remember it for me in as vivid detail as possible. Like you're actually there again."

Isaac started to turn a bit. "Why would I want to do that?" he asked, his voice a little high in fear. "I don't want to do that." At that, the lights around the room started to flicker. "I don't want to do that!" Isaac said a little louder and rougher. He started to thrash a bit again and the others moved to try and keep him under.

"Just relax," Deaton said to him as the lights flickered again. "They're just memories. You can't be hurt by a memory."

As the lights flicker again, even harder, Stiles narrowed his eyes. He had seen this before. This flicker, it was the same that he saw last night, just before he lost track of Heather's scent and trail. He looked up and saw that Scott and Derek seemed to be freaked by the lights doing that as he was but Deaton was completely calm. It was like this didn't surprise him the slightest bit.

"I don't want to do this," Isaac begged. "No."

"It's alright," Deaton said calmly to him. "Relax," he said and Isaac started to calmly breathe again and the lights stopped their flicker. "Good. Now, let's go back to that night. To the place where you found Erica and Boyd. Tell me what you see. Is there some kind of building? House?"

"Isaac shook his head. "No, it's not a house. Stone. Like marble."

Derek looked up at that. Marble? Sounds like something built to try and hold something, which could be used to hold his betas.

"Can you tell me anything else?" Deaton asked him.

"It's dusty."

"Like an abandoned building?" But then Isaac twitched and the lights began to flicker again. "Isaac? Isaac?!" Deaton asked again a little more forcefully.

"Someone's here," Isaac gasped before he grabbed Scott's wrist. "Someone's here."

"Isaac, relax."

But Isaac only got more agitated. "No, they're gonna see me. They see me!"

Isaac started to thrash more and they held him down even harder.

"They're just memories," Deaton said calmly as he looked at the lights nonchalantly before looking back down at the boy. "You can't be hurt by your memories. Just, relax. Relax," he said going back to that hypnotic tone. Isaac started to calm down again and the flicker started to settle too. "Good. Now…tell us what you see. Tell us everything."

Isaac started to see himself a bit more clearly. Him, when he found Erica and Boyd. He then started hearing Boyd's voice saying that they couldn't control it.

Isaac opened his eyes but didn't seem to be looking at them. "I hear him. He's talking about the full moon. About being out of control when the moon rises."

"Is he talking to Erica?" Deaton asked him.

"I think so…I can't see her. I can't see either of them."

"Can you hear anything else?"

"They're worried. Worried about what they'll do during the moon. They're…worried that they're going to hurt each other."

Derek started to shake his head. "If they're locked in together during the full moon, they're going to tear each other apart."

Scott and Stiles shared a look. They remembered how they were when they were locked together during their second full moon. Scott had wanted to rip Stiles apart and Stiles, while he did have more control, wanted to beat Scott down. Even during their little squabble in the locker room before Scott's first game, they were close to actually ripping each other's limbs off. They had things that stopped them from doing that to each other but nothing would be there to stop Erica and Boyd.

"Isaac," Deaton said at him. "We need to find them. "Right now. Can you see them?"

"No," he said.

"Do you know what kind of room it is? Any kind of marker? A number on a door? A sign"

Isaac was staring straight at the light overhead that started to flicker a bit during his questions before he gasped and lifted himself up. Derek quickly moved to grab him but Isaac didn't try to get out. He merely sat up. "They're here. They're here," he started repeating.

"It's alright," Deaton said but Isaac kept repeating it and the lights flickered hard again. But Deaton didn't stop. "Just tell us-"

"They see me!" Isaac cut in. "They found me! They're here!"

"This isn't working!" Derek spat out. "Isaac where are they!" he yelled at him.

"I can't see them! It's too dark!" The lights all went out then but there was still a light flickering…from outside. Stiles eyes were drawn to it and his own breathing intensified.

"You're confusing him!" Deaton said to Derek.

But he didn't stop. "Isaac, where are you!"

Isaac started to see more images and they only disturbed him as Derek kept shouting the same question at him over and over again.

"His heartrate! He's going to shock," Deaton told them.

Scott was starting to panic. "Derek, let him go!" Scott yelled at him.

But he kept it up. "ISAAC, WHAT DID YOU SEE?!" Derek shouted at him.

"A vault! It's a bank vault!"

The lightning outside flickered even harder and Stiles was breathing loudly. His insides were burning and his heart was pumping blood so fast that he could feel it in his ears. He went to grab them as Isaac started shouting more of what he saw and was thrashing even harder.

"His heart!" Deaton yelled at them.

"Derek!"

"A body!" Isaac shouted. "Erica!"

Stiles had been holding his ears tighter, almost about to pull them off and he just roared out at him at the same time Isaac saw one of the Alphas as she grabbed him and roared at him. That seemed make Isaac snap out of it as he sat back up, wide awake. Over at the side, Stiles was bent over as he seemed to be coughing and hacking like he had something caught in his throat that he was trying to get out. Scott went to pat his friend in the back as Isaac started to look around at all of them frantically.

"I saw it! I saw the name!" He then got out of the tub and Deaton wrapped a towel around him.

Stiles hacked out a bit more and spat something in one of Deaton's waste buckets. It almost looked like it was normal Phlegm but there seemed to be flecks of brown in there. Scott didn't see it as he was looking at Isaac but still rubbing at Stiles' back.

He then turned to his friend. "You alright?" Scott asked him.

Stiles nodded. "I'm fine. I'm okay." He then pointed his chin over at Isaac. Scott went over to him while Stiles straightened up and wiped his mouth clean.

"It's Beacon Hills First National Bank. They're keeping them there, locked up inside a vault." They now knew where but they were all staring at Isaac tensely. Even Stiles, who while having that fit or whatever it was, heard Isaac's last statement. Isaac was oblivious to their looks as he looked up at Stiles. "What did you do to me?"

"It seems that he woke you up," said Deaton giving Stiles a side look.

Isaac's eyes widened at him but he saw Stiles staring at him like someone died. Isaac then seemed to notice the others looking at him the same way. "What?"

"You don't remember what you said when you came out of it, do you?"

Isaac shook his head. "No."

Stiles kept his eye on him. "You said that just after they found you they dragged you into a room…there was a body."

"What body?" he asked.

"Erica…you said it was Erica."

At that, Scott looked down at his feet while Derek eyed Isaac blankly. Isaac just pulled the towel around him tighter they all hoped that Isaac had only seen Erica knocked out and not dead. Stiles and Deaton were looking at each other. Deaton's look was one of curiosity and puzzlement as he thought on how Stiles had reacted, but Stiles was one of suspicion as he thought on how whatever Deaton did caused this kind of reaction around them but he was calm and his heartrate steady the whole time.

Soon the lights came on and Scott helped Isaac dry up. Derek was pacing as they started to talk about what they just learned.

"She's not dead!" Derek said in denial.

"Derek," Stiles said pointing to Isaac who was sitting behind him. "He said that it was Erica. It doesn't leave much room for interpretation."

"Then who was in the vault with Boyd?" Derek asked him harshly.

"Someone else obviously," Stiles said back unaffected by Derek's glare.

"Maybe it was the girl on the motorcycle?" Scott put out there. "The one that saved Isaac."

"No," Isaac said to him. "She wasn't like us. And whoever was in the vault with Boyd was."

Stiles mind went racing. "Isaac said that they were talking about how they couldn't control themselves during the full moon. What if that's how Erica died? They pit them against each other for their own sick amusement. A Werewolf Thunderdome."

"Then we get them out of there tonight," Derek spat.

"Be smart about this Derek," Deaton said in a low voice. He was bent over the wastebasket as he was moving to empty some of the mess made from Isaac's episode. "You can't just go storming in."

"If Isaac got in then so could we," he pointed out.

"But he didn't get through a vault door, did he?' Deaton himself pointed out.

"We need a plan," said Scott.

Derek rounded on him. "How are we going to come up with a plan to break into a bank vault in less than 24 hours?"

"Uh, I think someone already did," said Stiles as he was looking at his phone before he began reading the news page he found. "Beacon Hills First National Closes Doors 3 Months After Bank Robbery. It doesn't say here how it was robbed but it probably won't take long to find out."

"How long?" Derek asked him.

Stiles snorted. "It's the internet Derek. Okay, minutes."

Deaton let a smile loose before he covertly moved a napkin to wipe up something from the wastebasket. It was what Stiles had gagged out. It was specks of brown dust. A dust that looked eerily familiar to the vet.

* * *

Stiles and Scott had gone back to Stiles' room to look up the bank and the robbery to learn how to get into the vault but it had taken a lot longer than they first thought. The one concrete thing they found was that the bank's logo matched the symbol of the bruises that were on Allison and Lydia's arms. They were working so long that they passed out where they had been working. The previous night's activity had left them feeling quite drained. Stiles' father walked in and saw the sight of the two boys completely passed out in the middle of a sea of papers and files. It seemed that the printer was still running on them.

"Boys. Time to wake up." But Scott and Stiles were still out like logs. "Boys!" he shouted at them. That made both of them jump up and look bleary eyed at him. "I got to get to work. You two, get to school."

"Dad!" Stiles shouted to stop him. "Heather?"

His dad gave him a pained look. "Nothing yet." He then left them.

Stiles took a paper stuck to his hand and then went and angrily ripped it in two and threw it aside. "Ten hours of nothing," he spat out.

"We'll find something," Scott said calmly to him.

But Stiles just narrowed his eyes at him. "Finding something doesn't make Erica any less dead. Or Boyd any less about to be dead." Stiles was feeling real torn about them. He had gone and saved those two from Gerard and had let them go, not before they helped him regain some of his strength, before he let them go off and get themselves caught by the Alpha Pack. He never should've just let them go off. He should've made them come back with him.

Scott could sense the blame that Stiles was feeling right now. "Stiles…we'll find them. We still have time," he said reassuringly.

Stiles huffed. "Is this whole remain optimistic in the face of complete and utter disaster thing part of the: Be a Better Scott McCall Program?"

Scott grinned a bit. "Umm, not if it doesn't work."

Stiles found some of weight lift off of him and he sighed. "No…it works." He gave Scott a grateful smile before he went and dropped the stack of papers he was holding. He quickly caught one of them and froze as he examined it. He then tossed it over at Scott. "Dad!" he yelled as he ran to catch him.

Scott took a look and saw that it was a news clipping with a picture of the Sheriff arresting one of the robbers of the bank heist at First National.

* * *

Allison's car parked in the school parking lot as Allison and Lydia stepped out in the middle of Allison telling her what she found.

"So, mystery girl left a bruise on our arms that turns out to be the logo of a bank?" Lydia asked skeptically. "What is she trying to do? Get investment advice?"

"Not at this bank. It's been closed for years."

"Why aren't you telling Scott?"

Allison narrowed her eyes. "Because, according to someone, I need to find something real and Scott's hothead best friend seems to agree with him." Allison moved to get her bag from the trunk and her eyes saw the bolt cutter she had stashed in there. "Which reminds me, I can't drive you home today. I have an errand to run after school."

Lydia nodded and they walked off, with Allison trying very hard not to look at the Jeep that parked not too far away from them.

Scott and Stiles got out and headed in for the school.

"Alright," Scott said as he got his backpack straps on. "We meet over at Derek's at five to go over the plan and we don't get started until dark."

"Okay," Stiles nodded. "What do we do until then?"

"Right now?" Scott asked him and Stiles nodded. Scott shrugged. "Go to English."

* * *

Stiles went and spread out floor schematics and blueprints of First National onto the desk in front of all of them so that they could begin to go over the plan.

"Okay," Stiles started as he pointed over at the schematic. "See this? This is how they got in. It's a rooftop air conditioning vent. Leads down, inside, into the wall of the vault, which is here," he said before circling it. "One of the robbers was lowered into this shaft. Okay, that space is so small that it took him 12 hours to drill into that wall, which is solid stone by the way. Then, throughout the rest of the night, they siphoned the cash to the guys back on the roof through that one little shaft on the wall."

Scott's eyes widened. Sometimes, he found it amazing at how Stiles could keep up with everything and still found out things like understanding the full layout of a bank robbery. He almost got lost half-way through all of that but one thing stood out to him. The size of the shaft. "Can we fit in there?" he asked.

"Yes we can but very, very barely. And, they obviously patched the wall back up so we're going to need a drill of some kind. I'm thinking of maybe a diamond bit."

"Forget the drill," Derek cut him off.

"Sorry?"

"If I go in first, how much space do I have?"

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "What do you think you're going to do Derek? Punch through the wall?"

"Yes Stiles," Derek breathed out. "I'm going to punch through the wall."

"Wow," Stiles nodded. "I wonder why I didn't think of that. Oh, maybe it's because that shaft is so small that there would be no way we would have enough space to get the momentum we need to break through the wall."

"I can," Derek said resolutely.

Stiles snorted. "Oh, let's see that fist. That big ole fist tough guy. Make it, don't be scared tough guy." Derek just raised his fist for him but his face clearly said he was getting annoyed. But Stiles didn't care. "Yeah," he nodded at that fist. He then held up his hand a bit from him. Stiles then got serious. "See this? That's roughly about three inches of room to build enough force to-" But Derek moved to punch at Stiles' hand and that made him move back and nearly lose his balance. "Okay, he can do it," Stiles said shaking his hand.

Now that that was done, Derek then leaned over the schematics. "I'll get through the wall. Who's following me down?"

Peter was sitting off to the side and noticed that Derek was eyeing him. "Don't look at me. I'm not up to fighting speed yet and honestly, with Isaac out of commission, you're not looking at very good odds for yourself."

"So I'm just supposed to let them die?" Derek spat at him.

Peter shrugged. "One of them's already dead."

"We don't know that," Derek said to him stiffly.

"Do I have to remind you what we're up against here? A _pack_ of Alphas. All of them killers. And if that's not enough to scare your testicles back into your stomach, try to remember that two of them combined bodies to form one giant Alpha. I'm sure Erica and Boyd were sweet kids. They're going to be missed."

Derek, Scott and Stiles were glaring hard at him as he finished that statement.

Stiles pointed over at him. "Can I kill him this time?" he asked.

Peter glared at him for that before looking back to his nephew. "Derek, seriously, not worth the risk."

They ignored him.

"What about you?" Derek asked.

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, if you want me to come."

"No, not you," Derek said looking over at Scott. "Him."

Scott nodded. "I don't know about Erica, but if Boyd is still alive, we have to do something."

"Yeah, we," Stiles said gesturing to all of them. "The three of us."

"No," Scott said shaking his head.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Scott, there are five of them. And remember, just one of them managed to toss you around like you were a ragdoll. If this is going to work then we're going to need all the help we can get."

But Scott still shook his head. "No. It's too risky to have all of us go for them at once. We're not going there to fight them. Just to sneak in and out with the others. Derek and I will go and that's it."

"But Scott-" Stiles started to argue.

"Stiles," Scott cut him off. He wasn't harsh with that, he was gentle which made Stiles loosen up. "I know you want to come, but, we have to smart about this. If this doesn't work…and something happens to us…then at least we'll still have you and Isaac left to try and stop them."

Stiles nervously swallowed. Scott was really taking this seriously if he was coming up with a back-up in case they…something happened to him on this. Stiles couldn't find it in himself to keep arguing. He narrowed his eyes resolutely at Scott and nodded.

Peter's eyebrows rose up at that. "Oh, and what am I, chopped liver?" he muttered to himself.

"Shut up," the three of them said together.

"But-" Scott started.

"But?" Derek pressed.

Scott looked over at him. "Who's the other girl? The one locked in there with Boyd."

* * *

It was pitch black dark out when Allison quietly got to the front doors of First National and then cut the chains locking the front doors together. She pulled them out and then stepped on inside. She moved through the ruined entrance hallway of the bank carefully as there was not too much light. It was quiet, so quiet that the sounds of passing cars echoed through there. Allison went into a corridor where she was suddenly grabbed. She moved to fight off her assailant and was pushed off into a wall. Allison looked up to see that it was the French teacher and school counselor.

"Ms. Morrell?" she cried out in shock.

"Keep your mouth shut and listen closely. You have no idea you just stepped into. Right now you've got about twenty seconds to get your ass out of here."

"What are you doing?" she gasped out.

But Morrell looked over at the door to their right. "Get into that closet and lock the door. When you hear the fighting start, that's when you come out."

"What fighting?" Allison asked.

But Morrell pushed on her harder. "You'll hear it, now go," she said before backing up and letting her go.

Allison moved over to the closet and shut the door like Morrell said. She tried the light switch but there was no power. She stiffened when she heard footsteps.

Outside, three sets of feet stepped down the corridor, making their steps echo through the empty halls. However, one of them stopped. Allison went and grabbed one of the cleaning chemicals off the shelves and spilled it everywhere to try and mask her scent. The Alpha that stopped smelled the soap and thought she had imagined sensing something and went to catch up with the others. Allison quietly took her phone out to use its light to see into the room. She looked around to find something to use to defend herself. However, what she found was a body. And not just any body, but the body of Erica Reyes. At the sight, Allison nearly screamed out in terror.

* * *

Stiles was in the loft, pacing nervously, as he stopped and then looked up at the full moon in the sky. It was doing very little to help his nerves. "I can't take this. This is nerve wracking. My nerves are wracked. They are seriously wracked."

"I could beat you unconscious and wake you when it's over," Peter offered from the other side of the room.

Stiles turned to him. "You know, just because I can control myself a lot better than most during the full moon doesn't mean I still can't get ticked off. And considering that you already are not among my favorite people in the world, I wouldn't push my luck," he said to him with a bit of a growl. Peter held up his hands to show that he would back off. Stiles then let out a huff. He had too much bottled in right now and, unfortunately, he was the only one here to talk to and vent about it. "You think Erica's really dead?" he asked.

"You think I really care?" he said not moving a muscle as he lay on the couch.

Stiles ignored that and kept going as if he didn't talk. "I just can't understand the bank though. Why there and not bring them to some underground lair or something? Shouldn't they have one of those?"

"No…because they're werewolves, not Bond villains," Peter rolled his eyes. Sometimes he found it hard to remember that this silly kid could be strong and ruthless when he wanted to be.

Stiles stopped in his pacing. "Wait, you said that each of these guys were killers. So…maybe they're feral. Like you were."

"I was controllably hostile."

"Well you're half right," Stiles shot back before continuing his trail of thought. "If they are feral and more animal than normal then…maybe they're living there. Like a den. A wolf den."

"Wolf dens?" Peter asked skeptically.

"Yeah wolf dens. Where do you live?"

Peter decided to humor himself. "An underground network of caves hidden deep in the woods."

"Wow, really?"

He snorted. "No you idiot. I have an apartment downtown."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Okay fine, but that still proves that there is something special about that bank. And why wait for the full moon? Why not just kill them whenever they want to?"

"Maybe they think it's poetic?" Peter shrugged.

"They've had _three_ past full moons already to be poetic," he spat at him.

"And yet you've only had one full hour to be so annoy-" But Peter stopped there and his eyes widened. Stiles' words seemed to click something in his mind.

Stiles could sense panic and fear coming out of the guy. "What? What is it?"

Peter got up, out of the couch. "What are the walls made of?"

"Huh?" Stiles narrowed his eyes as he looked above him. "I don't know. Wood and brick?"

"No, the vault. The walls of the vault. What are they made out of?" Peter moved to the schematics on the table. "Where would it say that? The materials, the type of stone."

"Oh, hang on." Stiles went to his bag and got out the rest of the files he printed of the bank. "Here, it has to be somewhere in there."

They moved through the papers until Peter found the structure's manifesto and saw the material for the vault. "Hecatolite."

Stiles' eyes widened. "What? Is that awful? It sounds awful."

"Get them on the phone," Peter said to him urgently. "Call them, now!"

"Why?!" he asked reaching for his phone. "What's wrong?!"

"We have to warn them."

"Why?"

"Because Boyd and that girl aren't going to kill each other. They're going to kill Derek and Scott."

* * *

Derek and Scott were at the alley behind the bank looking for the way a way to get to the shaft Stiles told him about. As they were looking, Derek noticed that Scott seemed to be looking at him, half-heartedly.

"What?" Derek asked him.

"Uh, nothing. Just something I can't get out of my head."

"The moon's rising Scott, what is it?" he asked impatiently.

Scott just spat it out. "Risk and Reward."

"Which means what?" Derek asked shortly.

"We're not measuring the risk with the reward. We don't know enough."

"We know time's running out."

"Yeah, but think about it. They put the triskelion on your door 4 months ago. What have they been doing all this time? Why wait until now? What are they even after here?"

"We don't have the time to figure out every little detail."

"But, what if this is the detail. The reason why they waited. What if it's the most important one?"

"Then we do nothing and Boyd and Erica are dead. I know what I'm risking Scott. My life for theirs." Derek had enough of talking about this. He started to climb the length of the building He got halfway up and looked back down at Scott. "I won't blame you if you don't follow me."

He kept going up and Scott moved to follow him. They found the shaft right where Stiles said and dropped down it. Derek moved to start pounding his way through and after about a minute, he managed to break his way through. He moved into the vault with Scott dropping in right behind him.

"Boyd?" Derek quickly called out. At his call, Derek started hearing heavy breathing. "Boyd?" he called again. The breathing turned to growling and Boyd slowly stepped out from behind a column. Derek's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Boyd? It's me. It's Derek." Boyd didn't look happy or relieved to see them. He looked savage.

Scott felt his phone vibrating and quickly picked it up and saw who was calling. "Stiles, now is not the best time."

" _No Scott_ ," he called out before Scott could hang up. " _Scott, you have to listen to me. You and Derek have to get out of there now! The walls of the vault, they're made of a mineral called hecatolite. It's also called moonstone because it actually scatters moonlight!_ "

Scott didn't like the sound of that. "What does that mean?"

" _It means they haven't felt the full moon in months!_ " Stiles cried out.

Peter started talking. " _Think of it like the gladiators in the Roman Coliseum. They used to starve the lions for three days to make them more vicious. More out of control. Deucalion has kept them from shifting for three full moons, diminishing their tolerance to it_."

" _Scott, they're going to be stronger_ ," Stiles cried.

" _Scott, they're lions, and you and Derek just stepped into the Coliseum_ ," Peter threw in.

" _Scott, it was a trap!_ " Stiles frightfully yelled out.

Scott looked down to see the hole that they had just made start to pour in the light from the full moon which was starting to fill up the vault.

"Derek," Scott said to him. "We have a big problem."

But their eyes were drawn to another growl. Someone was stepping in from behind Boyd. Scott guessed that this was the girl that Isaac told them about but he didn't recognize her. Derek, however, his eyes widened at the sight of her.

"Cora?" he lightly called out.

"Who?" Scott asked.

But Derek just kept his eyes on her. He looked like he had seen a ghost. "Cora?" he called out again.

"Derek," she mumbled as she was fidgeting where she stood. "Get…out," she savagely pleaded. "Get out now!"

Scott moved to try and head back out through the hole but noticed something on the floor. It was a dark line. An ash line and it was surrounding the whole vault. The vault door then opened and Ms. Morrell stepped in. She bent down and completed the ash line.

"No! Wait!" Scott cried as he ran to stop her.

But at him moving for her, Boyd and Cora howled and then started to run at him.

* * *

Over the phone, those howls echoed through the loft.

"Scott? Scott!" Stiles cried into the phone but there was nothing but the sound of the howls. There was more static and then the line went dead. "Damn it!" Stiles then ran off for the door.

"Stiles!" Peter cried out after him.

But Stiles just pushed the door open and kept running.

* * *

Morrell walked out slowly as she tried not to look back with the sound of the howls and pained cries of Scott and Derek being heard from the inside. She walked over until she came up to Deucalion. He was calmly taking his walking stick apart but seemed to sense how she was feeling.

"Don't kid yourself Marin. This isn't the first time that you've gotten your hands dirty." He then reached out and Morrell took his hand and guided him away.

* * *

In the vault, Scott and Derek were trying hard to not get overtaken by these two rabid betas. They came at them with no sense of themselves and Derek and Scott tried what they could to keep them away from each other. Scott pulled Cora away from Derek and threw her off to the side and they regrouped over at the wall.

"You know her?" Scott gasped out.

"She's my sister. My younger sister!" he cried out.

Scott narrowed his eyes. He thought that Laura was the only sister Derek had. "What the hell is she doing here?'

"Like I have a clue! I thought she was dead!"

Just then, they heard incoming footsteps and saw Allison at the vault's entrance. When the fighting started, instead of listening to Morrell and leaving, she went and followed the noise to see what was going on. She was shocked to see that Scott was there with Derek as they were being pinned down by two other werewolves. One she saw was charging at them.

"Look out!" she warned them.

Derek got out of the way but Scott was grabbed by Boyd and he started to throw him around and slash at him. Cora moved in on Derek and he grabbed at her arms to block her strikes but didn't strike back as he didn't want to hurt his recently rediscovered little sister. She was his family. The only family he really had left, besides his psycho uncle, and he just got her back. He couldn't lose her again.

Scott was then clawed at his stomach and Boyd was raising him up against the wall as Scott started to cough and squeal in pain. At the sight of that, Allison quickly went for the ash line. Derek noticed what she was doing and what she was about to do.

"No!" he cried at her. "Don't break the seal!"

But Allison went and pushed the ash away. "Boyd!" she cried out at him.

At the sound of her voice Boyd let Scott go and ran towards her. Cora stopped fighting with Derek and ran at her too. Allison ducked behind the vault door and Boyd and Cora shot passed her and ran out to try and leave the bank. Derek stomped over and angrily grabbed at Allison.

"Don't touch her!" Scott shouted at him.

But Derek kept his heated gaze on her. "What were you thinking?!" he shouted as he pushed at her.

"I had to do something!" she cried at him.

"She saved our lives," Scott said in her defense.

Derek then hounded on him. "Yeah, and what do you think they're going to do out there?" he said before he returned to glare at the girl. "Do you have any idea what you just set free?!"

"You want to blame me?!" Allison screeched. "Well, I'm not the one turning teenagers into killers!"

"No, that's just you and the rest of your family," Derek spat at her. "Trying to kill teenagers."

Scott's breathing intensified as he could sense a wave of guilt and sadness hit Allison. This was getting too close and personal for comfort.

Allison just stared blankly at Derek. "I made mistakes," she said calmly. "Gerard wasn't my fault."

"Oh, and what about your mother?" Derek spat.

"What do you mean?"

Derek turned to Scott. "Tell her Scott," he said harshly to him. "Tell her what she helped her grandfather torture and nearly kill your best friend over," he said insensitively at him.

Allison widened her eyes and looked over at Scott too. "Scott, what does he mean?" But Scott just looked away from her which only made her heart start pounding faster. "What is he talking about?" she asked again, more tensely.

* * *

Over at Lydia's house, she was resting on her bed when she started to fidget in her sleep. It got harder until her body shot up and she screamed.


	5. Fireflies

Chapter 5: Fireflies

Lydia found herself getting dressed before leaving her home, and she didn't know why. She just knew that she could stay there right now. Her mind went a mile a minute but her body seemed to be on autopilot. She just looked up at the moon and muttered 'Lunatic' before she left her house. She didn't know where she was going but at the same moment she knew she was heading the right way. It didn't make any sense.

* * *

The full moon was shining high above the woods as a little boy in them was gazing at the fireflies flying about. He was trying to catch some in a jar with his sister.

"Got one," he said as he scooped one up.

His sister came over and shook her head. "What are you doing dumbass? You're supposed to put holes in the lid. Otherwise you'll kill them."

The boy just kept looking at it. "Do I have to let them go?"

"Unless you want them to die. You want him to die?" Her brother shook his head.

The girl then noticed more fireflies ahead and went over to play with them as her brother tried to catch another firefly close by. But as he tried to catch it he missed and the first one he caught escaped. He angrily looked ahead and noticed a dark shape up ahead. There was growling and he screamed at the sight of a shifted Boyd who was baring down on him. The boy ran for his sister and they ran off to put as much distance between them and the werewolf as possible. They came to a small shed and quickly got in and locked themselves in. They huddled together as they could hear the hard growling and scratching just outside. The walls were pounded on and then lifted up as Boyd went and threw the shed's walls away. The girl dropped her jar of fireflies and they started to buzz off at Boyd. He started to flail his arms and tried to get them away and then looked back to see the two of them were gone.

Over in another part of the woods, Derek got a call. "You lost them?"

"Yeah, I kind of had to," said Scott.

"Wasn't exactly the plan."

"I know, which is why I think we have to stick together. Okay, he's too fast, too strong and way too angry for any of us to handle alone."

"Okay, I already sent a call to both Isaac and Stiles. Stiles is by the west side of the woods and I'm at the trails by the entrance of the preserve, can you meet me here?"

"Yeah," said Scott. "Just got to drop something off first," he said before he looked at the two kids he helped pull out of Boyd's reach.

* * *

Stiles had got a call from Derek when he was halfway to the bank in his Jeep. He gave him the cliffnotes version of what happened and assured him that Scott was okay. Stiles pulled up to the woods and set about trying to catch any sign of Boyd and Derek's apparently not dead sister Cora. He looked up at the full moon's light and grit his teeth. They had to find them and fast before they went off and ripped some non-suspecting person to shreds. He took a deep breath and let his whole body be calm. His abilities and senses would be stronger tonight and he had to use them to find those two. He listened to the sounds of the trees flapping in the wind and smelled the greenery of the plant life. However, his nose twitched when he smelled something else. Fresh blood. A lot of blood. He quickly took off on foot and ran to get to the source and it brought him to the public pool close to the woods. The blood's scent was coming from here. He stopped when he heard a heartbeat close by and it was pumping quite fast.

"Please, don't be dead," he heard. "Don't be dead." Stiles' eyes widened at the voice.

Lydia had come to this place, the public pool and didn't know why. She found herself moving around back until she came to the pool area. She went in and moved over for the water and gasped as she noticed a dark shape in the water, a human looking shape and it was face down. She let out panicked tears as she went to turn it around and saw that it was just a dummy. She let loose a sigh of relief until a hand reached out and she gasped.

Her eyes widened at who it was and she put a hand over her heart. "Stiles!"

"Lydia!" he cried out at her.

"Would you not do the whole silent creeper thing?" she spat at him.

"What are you doing here Lydia?"

"I…I don't know."

"You don't know?" Stiles repeated.

"Well, what are you doing here?"

Stiles let a small sigh loose as he looked down at the ground to his left. Lydia looked over to and noticed a dark trail. A trail of blood. And it led up to the lifeguard's station where there was a body of a boy there with his throat slashed open and blood dripping down from it. Lydia let out a deep and powerful scream that made Stiles cringe and move to cover his ears.

* * *

Scott found Derek and together they moved through the woods to try and follow after Boyd and Cora's scent. They came upon footprints and they were fresh.

"Is it them?" Scott asked.

"Looks like we're not the only ones that decided to stick together."

"Is that going to make it easier or harder to catch them?"

Derek just looked out. "I don't know."

Scott started shaking his head. "Derek. I saw Boyd try to rip two little kids apart. Are they going to do that to anyone they find?"

Derek looked grimly at him before he went off. "Anyone and everyone."

Scott went on the move as well until he heard something off in the distance and then broke into a really hard run.

* * *

In the woods, there was a couple of girls lying together in a tent. Or at least one of them was in the tent, the other was freaking out over a snake outside. She ran inside and lay next to her girlfriend. The second girl was a bit nervous and her heightened nerves made her grimly react to the shadow of a bug crawling on the tent. Her girlfriend swatted the tent to force it off before they went back to making out. The second girl was starting to calm down and get into it until she looked up and saw that there were now dozens of bug crawling on the top of the tent causing her to scream out in fright. And one even crawled on her and she ran out of the tent screaming.

"Emily! Emily wait!" her girlfriend screamed at her but Emily ignored her and kept running.

Emily ran off to try and distance herself from the bugs until she tripped and fell. She slowly came too and saw there were now hundreds of bugs and they were crawling for her. She screamed again as they crawled all over her and then she disappeared.

Her girlfriend wandered around, trying to find her but saw nothing through the trees. She heard a sound behind her and saw a girl. She thought that it was her girlfriend at first until it stepped further into the moonlight and revealed itself as a shifted Cora. Cora growled at her until something jumped in not too far away. It was Isaac and he quickly charged at her. Cora grabbed him and threw him off to the side easily. She was going to charge at him but was stopped when Scott jumped in and kicked her back. Over at the side, Derek moved in and growled at her with his red eyes blazing and she roared back. She then ran and Derek and Isaac took off after her. Scott noticed the girl and went over to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. The girl just backed up a bit from him. "Are you alright?" he asked a little louder.

The girl backed away again but she still nodded her head. "Uh huh."

"Get out of here," he told her. "Go and get out of the woods as fast as you can." He then ran to try and catch up to the others.

* * *

Allison was in her car, looking over the city in her and Scott's old spot. Yet she wasn't there for a peaceful reminisce, but a sad one. Scott had told her the truth of the night that her mother had been attacked. What she had done, or tried to do.

"She tried killing you?" Allison asked as Scott told her the story.

He nodded. "Uh…yeah."

Allison eyed him sternly. She wasn't sure if she should feel horrified or angry at either her mother or at Scott. She just tried very hard to keep herself together. "Why didn't you tell me?" she choked out.

"I'll tell you everything. Anything that you want to know but not right now."

But Allison wouldn't let him put this off. She had to know. "Just tell me why?"

Scott shook his head. "I…I couldn't. Allison, I couldn't let that be the last memory that you had of her."

But that was all they were able to talk on the subject as Derek had come in with Erica's body. Allison felt awful. She felt sick. This meant that she had hunted and shot both Erica and Boyd, tried to kill Derek and helped Gerard kidnap Stiles all because Derek and Stiles had saved Scott's life that night. She hated them and wanted them dead, because they had saved her boyfriend.

Now she knew why Stiles had been so short with her since the night of the Rave. The blame and anger in his eyes whenever he looked at her. It wasn't because of her ruining their plan. It was because her mother had tried to kill his best friend. Anger and rage that only got worse because of what she did to all of them.

She wiped a tear that came loose from her eye and then reached into her glove compartment. She felt around and then pulled out an arrowhead. She had to help them. She had to start and somehow make things right.

* * *

Scott, Derek and Isaac lost sight of Cora. They were wondering where to try looking next when Scott's phone rang.

"It's Stiles," he told them before he picked up. "Stiles?" he said into it.

Stiles was back at the pool with the body as Lydia was off also on her phone calling 911. "Scott," he said before turning to the body. "I'm over at the community pool with Lydia and there's a dead body over here."

Scott's eyes nearly popped. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Throat is ripped and there's blood everywhere. It's like the freaking Shining over here. If two little twin girls come out of the woods and they ask you to play with them for ever and ever I'm not going to be surprised."

"Can you get a little closer and make sure it isn't them?" Scott asked.

"Make sure it isn't them?" Stiles scoffed. "Scott, who else is going around and ripping throats out?"

"We need to be sure Stiles," Scott pressed. "Is their scent around there?"

"Scott, there's chlorine everywhere. Even on this guy. My guess is that he was in the water before he went and got his jugular torn open. Besides I don't have Boyd's scent committed to memory and haven't met Derek's sister yet."

"Okay," Scott huffed out defeated before he hung up.

Stiles hung up too as he eyed the body again. The trail of blood was flowing down from the guy's opened neck, all down his front and even ran to his hands. Stiles noticed a shine coming from his hand and saw that the guy had a Purity Ring on. ' _Poor unlucky guy_ ,' he couldn't help but think when he saw it.

Back with the wolves in the woods, Derek was shaking his head.

"This doesn't make any sense," he said. "The Public Pool is all the way on the other side of the woods. We haven't tracked them anywhere near there."

"Derek," Scott breathed out despairingly. "They killed someone."

"How are they moving so fast?" Derek asked out.

"Derek," Scott tried again.

"They can't be that fast on foot!" Derek cried out.

"Derek!" Scott could see that Derek didn't want to believe that Boyd and Cora did this but Scott had to make him see reason. "They killed someone. A totally innocent kid is dead…and it's our fault."

Derek finally looked him in the eye. "it's my fault," he muttered.

"We need help," Scott told him.

Derek spared Isaac a look. "We have Isaac now."

"I mean real help." Isaac sent a glare Scott's way. Scott shook his head. "They're too fast for us. Too strong. Too…rabid."

Derek let out a heated sigh. "Call Stiles again. Ask him to meet us and then we'll all go out there together and we'll catch them."

"What happens when we find them?" Isaac asked. "Do we just hold them down until the sun comes up?"

Derek hated to admit it but Isaac brought up a good point. They could find them but they wouldn't be able to keep them until the full moon set. There was an option, one that he didn't' want to put out there especially with his little sister thrown in the mix but it didn't seem like there was any choice. "Maybe…it would be easier just to kill them."

"Killing them isn't the right thing to do," argued Scott.

"And what if it's the only thing to do?" Isaac argued back. "If we can't even catch them then what else do we do?"

Scott narrowed his eyes. "I have someone who knows what they're doing?"

Derek straightened up. "Who?"

"Someone who knows how to hunt werewolves," he answered.

* * *

The Sheriff was in the woods responding to the girl who had been attacked by Cora call. He and a deputy were talking to her as she sat huddled under a blanket.

"So Caitlin, you and Emily, were you two drinking?" his deputy asked.

"No," she shook her head sadly.

"Anything else? Caitlin?" the deputy pressed and Caitlin admitted that they took a tab of something after all.

"Well that could cause hallucinations," the Sheriff said softly to her. "And it could've been laced with something."

But Caitlin was smiling sadly. "You think I hallucinate?"

"You think you saw a girl with glowing eyes and fangs?" he asked her calmly.

"And claws," she added.

Sheriff Stilinski went and put a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "Okay, we'll get you to the hospital and find out what exactly it was that you took."

"What about the other three? The three guys?"

"We'll need better descriptions of them too?" the deputy said to her.

The Sheriff then pulled his deputy aside. "Let's get an APB out on Emily," he said. It seemed he had to put out a lot of those lately. "The other girl too as soon as we get something better than claws and fangs."

His deputy widened her eyes. "You believe her?" she asked the sheriff.

He looked over at the girl and to him, she didn't seem to be carrying the signs of someone drunk or stoned. She looked genuinely haunted. "She saw something."

"You mean someone?" his deputy tried to correct him.

He didn't know why…but he had a flash of the horrible night back at the station when Matt had him, Stiles, Scott and Melissa hostage. The damage that was done to the place that night and even the injuries done to those men that were caught.

"Maybe both," he muttered.

Then a voice sounded over the radio. " _Sheriff Stilinski, copy_."

He reached for his radio. "Stilinski here."

" _Sir, we just got a call of a possible 187 over at the Beacon Hills Pool & Recreation Center by two teenagers_."

Two teenagers? He got a deep pit in his stomach. "My son and Scott McCall?"

" _Actually it was your son and a girl_."

So he was half right. "I'll be right there."

As he moved to his car he was finding that it was getting to be second nature to be finding his son in the midst of the evolving chaos in Beacon Hills. He had a feeling that with this new death, and even this disappearance and disturbance, on top of Heather vanishing, his son was involved. His instincts telling him that Stiles was perhaps even in the center of it. Of everything including everything else that happened in the past year. He couldn't help but remember what Stiles had told him just the other day. How he joked that he didn't have anything on him. It was like a private joke that he wasn't in on. Well, he wondered how long he could go until he confronted his son for the punchline because he wasn't laughing.

* * *

Chris Argent was coming out of the market and heading for his van with both of his arms full of groceries. He moved to try and open the door and one bag slipped and fell to the ground. "It has to be the one with the eggs," he huffed out angrily. He opened the door and then started to pile the bags into the back of his car but as soon as he closed the door back shut he went and pulled out his gun and turned around to point it at the one sneaking behind him. He let out a gasp when he saw it was Scott.

"Uh," he said blankly as he looked from the barrel of the gun to the hunter. "Hi?"

Over in a car parked not too far away, Derek and Isaac were watching this little scene blankly.

"You think this is going to work?" Isaac asked skeptically.

"Nope," Derek said bluntly.

"Me neither," Isaac said quickly. He kept staring at the two of them for a moment before he shrugged. "So…your sister? Uh-" He stopped when Derek just stared at him. "Sorry," he quickly apologized. "It's, it's bad timing. Sorry," he said as Derek looked away from him. "I'll ask later." That made Derek look back at him and his gaze was a bit more heated than before. "Or never?" Derek nodded at that. "Yeah, I'm good with never."

Back with Scott and Chris, the young werewolf tried to explain the situation to him but Chris remained defiant. Even more so when Scott finally asked for his help with catching them.

"First of all," Chris started. "Why would I care about anyone related to Derek? And second, I don't know this kid Boyd. I don't even know his last name?"

Scott blinked. "Boyd _is_ his last name."

"Then what's his first name?"

"Vernon," Scott answered bluntly before his eyes narrowed. "And just curious, is there a reason that your gun is still pointed at me?"

Chris looked at the gun but still kept it raised. "I guess there's still some part of me that wants to shoot you."

"I get that," Scott said nonchalantly.

Chris finally put the gun away. "Look Scott, I watched my father brainwash my daughter. He almost turned her into a killer. I have to carry the marks of that night everywhere I go thanks to your friend. That world, your world decimated mine. My wife, sister, father, my entire family and even good friends of mine. All gone. Why would I ever step foot in it again?"

Scott's face hardened. "Because people are going to die. And because you know how to catch Boyd and Cora without killing them."

"I'm sorry," he said beginning to turn away. "I can't help you."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "Then why are you here? Why'd you even come back?" Scott asked him a bit angrily causing him to stop. "You know, I asked Stiles, about the mark over the summer. I asked him why he scarred them. He told me that he wanted to kill them, but he said that would be letting them off easy. He wanted them to always remember what they did or tried to do for the rest of their lives. To always look into a mirror and remember who the real monsters were. Ones that hunted and killed for the pleasure of it...and some…other stuff," he added a bit uncomfortably to Chris building anger and annoyance but shook it off quickly. "Point is, I think on some deep level, Stiles was trying to humble all of you. When you came back to Beacon Hills, I was hoping you had. That you and Allison were back to try and make some kind of amends. Deep down, I think you really want to. To not have those scratches Stiles gave you have to haunt you forever. And you can start by saving a boy that you helped kidnap and hurt and help Derek save the only family he still has left."

Chris' face seemed pained. Like he wanted to agree with Scott but was still trying to resist. "Well…whatever you think my feelings are in all of this, it doesn't matter. Because I'm pretty sure that any of your friends wouldn't want to have my help Scott."

"No," Scott said quickly. "They don't want it, but they still need it. And so do the innocent people they may hurt."

Chris just let out a deep, defeated breath. "Boyd and, uh-"

"Cora," Scott said softly.

"Where was the last place you saw them?"

* * *

The sheriff pulled moved on in to the pool area where there were already a few people already there analyzing and roping off the scene and off in the corner, sitting together, were his son and Lydia Martin talking with one of the deputies. He had to admit, it was a nice change to having Scott with him all the time but still not appreciated.

"I'll take it from here," he told the man. The deputy nodded and then went off to help with the body. The sheriff went and folded his arms. "So, you want to tell me how you came by this one? I'm all ears."

"We just found him like that," his son said fast and to the point.

"Oh? And just what were the two of you doing out here at this time of night?"

Stiles let some air roll off his bottom lip. "Um…we just came here to…take a late night dip," he said pointing to the pool.

His dad eyed him harshly. "Stiles, I'm not in the mood tonight." Stiles let his back lean into the chair. "Okay, I have now seriously lost count on how many times a body has turned up with you in its airspace. I have officially hit my blind eye quota when it comes with you. Now, you are going to tell me, here and now, what the hell is going on?"

His father didn't quite yell at him but it was just as well that he did. Stiles felt trapped; backed into a corner and he couldn't see any way out this time. But he didn't know what to say…besides what he just couldn't say and that wasn't an option. Not now with two rabid betas roaming around the woods who would attack anything that moves. He was starting to wish that he and Lydia didn't call 911.

"It was my fault," Lydia spoke out suddenly.

"Your fault?"

"Yeah. I came here earlier for a swim since the swim team had practice after school and left my bag," she said before holding up her small handbag for the Sheriff to see. "I called Stiles to help me since I needed help to try to get it back since the place was closed."

The sheriff looked from her to Stiles as his son ducked his head down like he had been caught in something. "Oh? So you were trying to break into a locked city building?"

"Eh, it seemed like a good idea at the time," Stiles shrugged nervously.

A part of him didn't really believe that they were telling him the whole truth but he would have to let it go…for now. "Okay," he said nodding to her. "I'll disregard the breaking and entering on account of us having a more serious problem to take care of here but I want you to take her back to her house and then go and try and stay home," he said almost begging.

"Yeah," Stiles said moving out of the chair quickly. Right now, the last thing he wanted was for Lydia or anyone else to be alone so close to the woods tonight. "Sure. Gotcha."

"Alright, go on."

"Okay," Stiles nodded and then took Lydia by the hand as they went off. He then turned around. "Dad?"

"Stiles?" he said looking back over at him.

Stiles face softened and so was his tone. "Be careful tonight. Okay?"

"Okay," Stiles nodded and then took Lydia by the hand as they went off.

He nodded and Stiles kept on walking with Lydia. The sheriff watched them go off with a hard look. He didn't believe that Stiles had any hand in any of these deaths and disappearances but he knew that he was involved somehow. Something was going on with his son and he had a feeling that when he finally learned what it was, he would wish he hadn't. Something bright flashed at his face and swatted at it to see that it was a firefly. He then moved over to get his own look at the body of the murdered kid.

Stiles went and spared one last look at his dad as he stared down at the body. He could feel both his dad's confusion and his helplessness. This was starting to spiral completely out of control.

* * *

Allison was in the woods, setting up some snares and marking a trail with her some of her blood. She remembered some of the training she got from her father and grandfather about how wolves use the wind and how to use that to your advantage to try and corral your quarry together. She would use that to lure Boyd and Derek's sister Cora and make them fall into her trap. She also brought out her infrared goggles to try and track their heat signatures since they would be higher than normal under the full moon. She could see some traces of it in the distance but it looked like they were steadily moving away from her. It seems like whatever human bit of them was left was keeping them from falling into her trap. She had to change tactics.

She would catch them before anyone else had to die. She just hoped that her father didn't find out. If he knew that she was getting involved like this…then she might have to leave and she couldn't. Not now. Not after learning about what had happened.


	6. Fireflies part 2

Chapter 6: Fireflies part 2

Chris was brought to the clearing where they had last found their footprints on the ground. Chris dropped down a duffel bag he took from his van and kneeled over to look at it.

"You're tracking them by print?" he asked.

"We're trying," said Scott.

"Well then you're wasting your time. There's only one creature that can visually track footprints, and that's man. And, if you're not trained like me, then you have no idea that this print," he said pointing to one set. "Is Boyd's. And these," he then pointed to another set right next to it.

"Are Cora's?" Isaac slurred out.

"No," he shook his head. "They're yours," he said making Isaac look down at his feet nervously. "You trampled on Cora's as soon as you walked over here. Listen," he said shifting his tone. "I know that the three of you are focusing half your energy on resisting your own urges under the full moon but that puts you at a severe disadvantage to Boyd and Cora who are fully giving in. They're putting the pedal to the floor while you three are barely hitting the speed limit."

Derek let out a frustrated breath as he folded his arms. "So, what do we do?"

"Focus on your sense of smell. Actual wolves have been known to track their prey for up to 100 miles a day by scent. A trained hunter can use scent to trap them. If the wind is with them then wolves can track a scent for up to 2 miles. We can draw them to us, and into a trap." He then tossed a rope net at Scott. "The full moon does give us one advantage though, they'll have a higher heat signature. Makes them easier to spot with infrared." He then took out and started handing them infrared goggles.

Derek got tossed one but quickly threw it back. "Thanks but, I've got my own." He then flashed his red eyes out at him.

"Just remember," Chris continued. "We're not hunting wild animals. Beneath those impulses are still intelligent human beings. Many believe they can't rely on that human side. It's suppressed but its still there. Reminding how to mask their scent, cover their tracks, how to survive." They then moved to a high point to try and spot the heat signatures they were giving off. Chris took a moment and looked over at Derek. "When was the last time you saw your sister?" he asked out of the blue.

"Not in years," he said still looking out. "Thought she died in the fire."

Chris pushed down some of the guilt he felt towards his sister and father being behind that. "Can you get a lock on her scent?" But Derek shook his head. "Scott?" he asked turning to the beta. "How confident are you in your skills?"

"Honestly, most of the time I'm trying not to think about all the things I can smell," he said glumly. "It doesn't seem to ever bother Stiles though. He's been trying to help me get over that but…it's not easy."

Chris' jaw stiffened at the mention of his friend. The beta that had been stabbed and beaten in his home and then went and gave him long and deep scars on his arm that he could still feel a bit if he moved his arm too hard or too fast. "Where is Stiles anyway? I would think he would be out here with you, trying to help."

Scott looked over and saw that Derek was giving him a bit of a stink eye. It was clear that Derek didn't want Mr. Argent to know about the Alpha Pack. Scott actually agreed. Just getting him to help them with Boyd and Cora was hard enough. A pack of Alphas being thrown into the mix might make everything get more complicated so he had to be vague.

"If I had to guess, he's out trying to get a start on dealing with some of our other problems," he threw out there. "Boyd and Cora really spooked some people tonight and his dad would be in the thick of it."

Chris nodded. "Well, it will only get worse when the two of them manage to breach the woods and hit the residential area. Once they're passed the high school they're right in the middle of Beacon Hills."

"Uh," Isaac started. "They're not…going to kill everything they see, are they?"

"No," Chris answered. "But there is an important difference to recognize. Wolves hunt for food and at a certain point, they get full. Boyd and Cora are hunting for the pleasure of the kill," he said giving a look Scott's way as he repeated his earlier words. "For some primal apex predatorial satisfaction that comes from the ripping of warm bodies to bloody shreds and who knows when that need gets satiated."

"We can't kill them," Scott immediately pushed out there.

"And what if we can't catch them?" Derek asked bringing them back to their earlier argument.

But Chris had an idea. "Maybe we just need to contain them. There's no one in the school at night, is there?"

"You want to trap them inside?" asked Derek.

"Is there somewhere with a strong enough door?" he asked them. "No windows or access to the outside?"

Isaac let out a frustrated breath. "Oh, there is. The boiler room in the basement. There's this big steel door, strong enough to hold us. Believe me, I know," he said recalling when Stiles had trapped him and Erica in there last semester.

Chris nodded. "You sure the school's empty?"

"Yeah, it has to be," Scott nodded. "There can't be anyone there this late. Right?"

* * *

Over in the school, the whole building was quiet and its rooms and halls were empty. Save for Ms. Blake who was putting in an all-nighter grading some papers.

* * *

Now that they had a plan, Chris revealed something to help them put it into motion. He went and jammed one of them into the ground. It seemed to be a silver colored rod of some sort.

"These are ultra-sonic emitters," he explained to them. "One of the tools we use to corral werewolves. Pushing them into a direction we want them to run." He then turned it on and it started to glow. "Gives off a high pitched frequency that only they could hear."

"No kidding," Isaac screeched out. He, Scott and Derek were all holding their ears to block out the sound coming from the emitter that was painful for them to hear. "Turn it off! Turn it off!"

Chris did but so that they could go and help him spread the others.

"These are really going to drive them to the school?" Derek asked him.

Chris nodded. "Then it'll be up to you to get them into the basement."

Isaac nodded as he took two of the emitters. "Uh, does anyone want to re-think the plan where we just kill them?"

Scott gave him a look to make him be quiet. "It's going to work," he said pointedly at him. He then looked at Derek. "It'll work," he tried to assure him.

They then moved off to begin setting the emitters and activating them so that Boyd and Cora would be pushed to Beacon Hills High School just like they wanted.

* * *

Lydia opened the door into her room and Stiles followed in right behind her.

"You know, your dad just said that you had to take me home. He didn't say that you had to actually come inside my house," she pointed out to him before she dropped into her bed.

"I just wanted to leave no doubt in my mind that you got home safe."

"Your dad gave us an escort," she said to him.

"I know the inner workings of that force. They're not as reliable as people might think."

"But you also didn't have to follow me directly into my room."

"Well I…yeah, I don't have an answer for that one. I guess I'll leave."

But Lydia stopped him before he could fully leave her room. "Are you really going to go without asking me what you've been…dying to ask me?" she said with a small smile.

He took a step towards her. "Oh, what do you mean? What questions would I even have to ask? No questions from Stiles." But Stiles just kept staring at her.

Lydia rolled her eyes at him. "I can see it on your face."

Stiles rolled his own eyes. "Maybe my face just has a naturally interrogatory expression?"

"Well you're interrogatory expression is getting on my nerves," she said a bit shortly at him.

Stiles let out a deep breath and decided to just come out with it. "What happened tonight Lydia? We both know how I got there. I caught the scent of that guy's blood, and followed it. But you actually beat me there, so…what happened?"

"The answer is…I have absolutely no clue how I ended up finding that body. I didn't even know where I was until I got out of the car."

"And what about that scream? You almost shattered my ear drums," he said as he went to rub at it. "I swear that I'm hearing this faint but annoying pinging sound."

"I'm sorry that I screamed at your face," she said sarcastically at him. "Next time, I'll ask for you to move a bit out of the way so that I don't hurt your precious wolf ears the next time I see a dead body."

Stiles quickly shook his head. "That's not it. Lydia, I've learned how to filter what I hear and smell, even on a full moon. You gave a pretty loud shout when I surprised you and it did nothing. But…your second scream was the one that hurt me and it shouldn't have done that to me, but it did."

"Well I don't know," she muttered out. "All I know was that I just had to scream. When I saw that body…I had to scream, as loud as I could…and I don't know why. Why I had to scream, why I even had to leave or knew where to go or what I knew I would find when I got there. It's like…I didn't have control," she said almost crying.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "But…the last something like this happened."

"I know," Lydia nodded with her bright eyes looking back at him. "Derek's uncle."

"Peter."

* * *

Derek went and jammed an emitter into the ground when he heard an annoyingly familiar chuckle.

"So the hunted becomes the hunter." Peter then stepped out of the shadows and walked over at him with his hands firmly in his pockets. "You really think a few high tech dog whistles are going to help?"

"I don't see you offering a hand," Derek spat at him.

"Personally I'm trying to cut down on futile endeavors."

"Cora's alive," he tried telling him.

"I heard," Peter said calmly. "Let's throw the reunion party when she's not an unstoppable killing machine."

"I could stop them."

"Sure you can," Peter nodded. "By killing them, which happens to be the point of this little exercise. Deucalion wants you to kill them. He wants you to get rid of his baggage making it easier for you to join his pack. The fact that it was supposed to happen in the vault and not out here in the open doesn't change his plan. It just means that Boyd and Cora are going to kill a few innocent people first."

Derek pushed his rising anger down. "And I should just let them? I should be okay with innocent people dying?"

"Unless you're okay killing your own," Peter threw back at him.

"I can catch them."

Peter rolled his eyes. "C'mon, how much damage can they really do? Okay, so they off a few homeless people. A drunk stumbling out of the bar too late, so what? Let Scott deal with it. Let him be the tragic hero of his moral black and white world and he'll survive this. Even Stiles will come to chalk this up as an unfortunate loss to tally up with this town's growing death rate. But you, and I, we live in shades of gray. Then again, even if you did kill them, you're still an Alpha. You could always make more werewolves." He then went and activated the emitter.

* * *

Over at the hospital, Melissa McCall was going over a checklist as Stiles walked in the door.

"Hey," he said to her.

"Hey," she said back. "Glad you could make it."

"Uh, yeah. You called me and said I had to come right away?"

She took him by the shoulder. "Over here." But then she leaned in closer. "And if you tell anyone that I showed you this it won't matter that you're a werewolf because, I swear to God, I will kill you painfully and slowly."

"Gotcha," he nodded. "But why do you need to show me a body that I already have seen?'

"Because, you haven't seen this." She took him to the morgue and showed him the body of the boy from the pool. She pointed to his neck. "This mark was from his throat being slashed. But this one," she said pointing to the mark above it. "That's a ligature mark. That means he was strangled with something. Like a cord or rope."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "That doesn't make any sense. Werewolves don't need to strangle anybody? It's not very werewolfy. We have claws and teeth. We don't need cords or ropes."

Melissa nodded. "My thoughts exactly."

Stiles then sighed. "That's good." She gave him a look. "I mean, it's bad. Still bad that he's dead, yeah. But good in that Boyd and Cora couldn't have been the ones that killed him."

"There's more," she said as she went to the front of his show that it was bashed in.

"Oh," Stiles said flinching. "God, what is that? Is that brain matter?" He may not be so queasy with blood anymore but seeing people's brains, yeah, that one's still nauseating.

"See the indentation," she said after he was finished. "He was hit in the back of the head. Hard enough to kill him. In fact, any one of these things could've killed him. Someone really wanted this poor kid dead."

"So maybe this was a coincidence. Just a normal murder that happened to be on a full moon." Stiles bit back the feeling and leaned in closer to get a better look over at the guy's neck when his nose twitched. "Hey," he mumbled.

"What?"

"There's a scent around the body." He sniffed a bit more. "Back at the pool, all I could smell around the body was chlorine and blood, but now…I can smell this other scent. It's faint but its still there."

"What is it? What do you smell?" she asked him.

Stiles then pulled his head back a bit. "It smells like…flowers."

"Flowers?" Melissa repeated with her eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, and it's familiar. I've smelled it before. I…just can't remember where. It's like on the back of my mind somewhere."

"Can you smell flowers on that body?" she asked pointing to a covered body on a slab behind him.

He focused his nose on it and gave a whiff in its direction. He nodded. It was easier to smell it coming off that one even if he wasn't so close. "Yeah, it's there too…why?"

"Because she has the exact same injuries."

Stiles eyes widened and his heart chilled. "She?"

* * *

Scott and Isaac moved to open all the doors so that Boyd and Cora would easily get inside the school with nothing to hinder them and make them go the opposite way. Scott then headed for Chris as he set up the last emitter. But the hunter was gazing off into the distance.

"Do you see that?" Chris asked Scott.

Scott looked over and noticed the faint glow. "Yeah, it's a firefly."

"No, no I know. It-"

"What?" Scott asked. Allison's dad seemed freaked about it for some reason.

"It's, uh, very unusual. California fireflies are bioluminescent." Scott just stared back at him blankly. "They don't glow," he further explained.

"Does that mean something?" Scott asked.

But a howl then sounded in the distance which ended that trail of thought. Boyd and Cora were on their way. Everyone got into their positions.

Isaac was in his when he heard the growling. "Oh great," he muttered as turned and saw that they had chosen to come in from where he was standing put.

They growled at him but before they could do anything Chris came in with his car and started to honk at them. His brightbeam headlights were on and the two rabid wolves ran off for the school. Derek was ready to meet them but they didn't go through the door, they jumped on the roof above it.

Scott's jaw dropped. "They're not going through the school. They're going over it," he despaired.

"The rear doors," Chris shouted out. "Someone has to get them open."

Derek moved to get them open.

"Someone has to drive them inside," Scott pointed out.

Chris brought out his taser staff. "I'll go."

Isaac shook his head. "No, I'm faster." He then moved to try and find them.

Chris just sighed as they all moved off to try and keep to his plan as much as possible. Scott was right. They might not have liked his help, but they did need it.

Boyd and Cora climbed to the roof and ran to the opposite side of the school and climbed down to find themselves in the parking lot. However, a flashbolt was shot at their feet and kept them from going anywhere. Then another followed and forced them to take a step back. Standing on one of the buses was Allison and she steadily let the bolts fly at the ground in front of them. One by one until finally the two werewolves ran the opposite way and into the school. Isaac then came and shut the doors and barred them with a pipe. He then looked up at Allison still standing on the bus. They threw each other a look before she ran off with him looking after her as she did.

* * *

Melissa went to move the tarp covering the body to reveal the young girl underneath and Stiles backed away from it slowly though this went unnoticed by Melissa.

"The M.E. said that this one wasn't just strangled. Whoever did it used a garrote, which is a stick you put through the rope and you just got to keep twisting." But she stopped talking when she looked over to see that Stiles was staring at her and was slowly crying. "Stiles?" She then saw that he couldn't stop staring at the girl's face and understood. "Oh my god, did you know her?" He nodded and she gasped. "I'm so sorry," she said as she moved to quickly cover it back up.

"I…was at her party," he choked out. "It was her birthday. It was Heather. She was taken. Someone took her…I tried to find her, go after her but…" He stopped there.

"Okay," she said understanding what he was trying to say. "Look, I think we need to call your father. You're a witness."

But Stiles eyes were widening. He didn't stop talking because it was too hard to keep going. He stopped because he finally remembered. "That's it," he muttered.

"What's it?" Melissa asked him.

"This smell. The flowers. It's how I lost Heather's scent when I tried to chase after her." He remembered the wind hitting him and suddenly all he could smell was flowers. This exact scent around Heather and this other guy.

"What? Wait, what does that mean?" she asked.

But Stiles didn't answer as he just went to look from Heather's body to the other one as his mind spun its clockwork. One, they both had the exact same injuries. Two, they both had the same exact flowery scent around them. One's an accident. Two's a coincidence. And three…his eyes then became more focused as he remembered the Purity Ring he had seen him wearing. And Heather had told that she was a virgin. That was a third thing they had in common. A pattern.

Melissa was getting nervous by his silence. "Stiles, what is it? What's wrong?"

He then caught her eye and leaned in. "Has anyone else been through here? Any other bodies or people reported missing?"

"Uh, no," she shook her head. "No bodies. But, um-

"What?" he urged her.

"Two girls. They brought the first one, Caitlin, in for a tox screen. And I heard that her girlfriend Emily just disappeared. They were just out in the woods."

"And no one's found her yet?" Stiles finished for her.

"I don't know."

"Okay, the first one?"

"Caitlin."

"Is she here? Is she here right now?" he asked her.

"I think so."

"Where?" he asked before moving to leave the morgue.

But Melissa moved to intercept him. "Okay wait. Just wait a minute."

"No, I have to talk to her."

"Why?"

"Because I think I know what's happening," he told her with a grim look on his face.

* * *

Boyd and Cora ran through the halls of the school until Derek appeared and grabbed Cora by the shoulders and pushed her into the lockers. She was then thrown off into the floor which made Boyd turn around and stop running. Scott came to stand by him while Chris moved into the opposite hallway to cut off their escape.

"Come and get us," Derek said before he and Scott ran off for the basement which had Boyd and Cora run off after them.

They made it to the dark level where their golden eyes shined through the darkness. They carefully tried to navigate their way until they were hit with fire extinguishers. Scott and Derek sprayed them for a few seconds before they threw them away and ran for the door. Derek then quickly put the bolt in and locked it. Boyd and Cora tried to pound at it but the metal door wouldn't budge.

"Did that actually just work?" Scott said marveling at the fact that something finally went according to plan.

Derek smiled at him. "It worked."

They took a second to let a relieved breath out and Derek moved to sit down while Scott leaned in to hear everything through the door. Scott's eyes narrowed as he listened in.

"What are you hearing?" Derek asked him.

"Heartbeats," he said to him.

"Both of them?"

"Actually…three of them?" Scott gasped out.

Derek stiffened. That had to mean that there was someone else in the basement.

That someone was Ms. Blake who was gathering more supplies. She heard a noise sound as she got some paper. "Hello? Is someone there?" she asked out.

* * *

Melissa took Stiles to see Caitlin as she watched the door to check to see if anyone was coming.

"We weren't doing anything that bad," Caitlin started to explain to them. "We've camped out there plenty of times."

"Yeah," Stiles nodded. "But why tonight?"

"We wanted to be alone for one night. "Emily lives with her mom and I have three roommates. Not exactly romantic settings."

Stiles nodded. His hunch was looking stronger but he needed to know for sure. "How long have you two been together?" he asked her.

"Three months," she answered him.

"You wanted to make it romantic?"

Caitlin nodded. "Yeah, you know…because-"

"Because it was her first time, right?" She was silent but he had his answer. So, Emily matched the pattern too. He knew what the killer was after.

At that question, Melissa looked at Stiles. She didn't have a clue what he was trying to find out but from the sound of his tone, it didn't seem good.

Caitlin turned to him with tears in her eyes. "They're going to find her, right? Aren't they?"

Stiles just looked down, away from her. That seemed to give all the answer that both Caitlin and Melissa needed.

* * *

Derek moved to the door's latch.

"What are you doing?" Scott whispered harshly at him.

But Derek kept his eye on the door. "Close the door behind me and keep it shut," he told him.

"You go in there alone, you're either going to kill them or they kill you."

Derek just stared at the door for a few more seconds before turning back to Scott. "That's why I'm going in there alone." Derek then opened the door and ran on in and Scott closed it behind him.

In the basement, Jennifer Blake was moving throughout the dark level until she saw some light up ahead. She then saw Boyd and Cora step into that light and they were growling at her with their faces shifted. She started to breath faster and her heart pounded louder against her chest as they closed in on her. But Derek came in and pushed at them from behind giving her time to duck in cover.

Derek growled back at them as they growled at him. They moved in to attack and Derek moved to try and defend himself. Scott could hear the roars of their bout from the other side of the door. Chris and Isaac could hear it too as it echoed through the school. Derek managed to grab at both of their necks as he tried to use his Alpha growl to gain control but it didn't seem to faze them. They broke free from his hold and began to claw at him.

"Scott?! Isaac cried out as he tried to run for the basement. But he stopped when light started to shine through the window. "Daylight," he muttered before he started to run again. "Scott! The sun's coming up!"

He moved for the basement in time to see Scott open the door and run on in. He followed after him and the two of them ran in to see Derek on his knees with Boyd and Cora passed out in front of him. Derek looked a mess, with claw marks all over his body. But he slowly managed to look up at them tirelessly.

"There's a teacher…I'll take care of her," he said to them. "Get them out of here."

Scott and Isaac moved to take Boyd and Cora while Derek moved to the supply closet where Ms. Blake was still huddled in fear. She looked up as Derek walked in. He slowly made his way over to her and offered her his hand. She was crying a bit but she slowly went to take it. She then got to her feet and just stared at him. Derek gave her a soft smile and she smiled back at him.

* * *

Stiles was over at a waste basket in a corner of the morgue. In his hands was the condom that he had left Heather to get. The thing that kept him from being there to protect her. He didn't want that reminder to stare at him ever again so he went and threw it in just as Scott came into the room.

"Well?" Stiles asked him. Scott's smile seemed to tell him everything he needed to know. Stiles face then fell. "I wish I had good news too."

Stiles then showed Scott Heather's body. "So, you're saying that Boyd and Cora didn't do this? They didn't kill anybody?"

"No, but you're going to wish they did," Stiles said glumly.

"Why?"

"I'm not _exactly_ sure yet. But the other girl that was in the woods, Emily, eventually they're going to find her." What he didn't know was that, at that very moment, his father and his deputies were coming up on her body hung at a tree in the woods. "She's one of them. Emily, Heather and the guy Lydia and I found at the pool. All three were virgins. And all three are going to have the same injuries. Strangled. Throat Slashed. Head bashed in. It's called the Three Fold Death. And there's one more thing."

Scott squinted his eyes at him. "What?" What else could there be?

"Scott, take a small sniff of these bodies. When they do find Emily's body I'm sure that it will have the same faint smell of flowers that are on Heather and this guy's body too."

Scott took a small sniff, and sure enough, he did detect the faint scent of flowers. "What is that?"

Stiles shook his head. "I don't know. All I know is that this was the same flowery scent that was used to mess up my sense of smell when I tried to go after Heather's killer the night of the party."

Scott wasn't quite getting it but one thing was painfully clear. "These aren't random killings. Then what are they?"

Stiles rubbed at his eyes. "Sacrifices. Human Sacrifices," he grimly answered.


	7. Unleashed

Chapter 7: Unleashed

Scott was with Deaton at the animal clinic as they were treating a new patient, a sick dog brought in from a student Scott had seen around school a few times. Kyle, he was sure his name was. Scott was trying to calm the dog by rubbing the spot between his ears while Deaton prepared a syringe.

"That's not going to hurt him, is it?" Kyle asked as he eyed the needle in Deaton's hand.

"Just a little," he said nonchalantly. "But I usually find that it's the owner that feel the most pain," he said as he injected the serum into the dog and Kyle cringed at it. He then pulled it out. "There. All done. We'll just check the stool sample for parasites but my guess is that he just ate something that he shouldn't have."

Scott then took his dog from the table and rested him on the floor next to Kyle's feet. Scott petted the dog and noticed the tag that read: Bullet. "Hey, cool name."

"He's got two brothers at home named Barret and Trigger. Military family," Kyle shrugged. Scott kept petting him and Bullet was completely submissive. "Looks like he knows who the Alpha is," he joked.

That made Scott look up quickly at him but Kyle just smiled at him and realized that he was just making a harmless joke. Scott just smiled back. "Yeah."

But Deaton wasn't smiling. He was eyeing Scott with a calculating gaze. He has had certain hunches relating to Scott after he first learned that he was bitten and lately, they've been getting to be a lot more than simple hunches.

"Let's go buddy." Kyle took his dog out of the clinic and they headed for his car but Bullet didn't want to get in. Kyle leaned down. "Okay, this usually happens _before_ we go to the vet," he joked. But Bullet then ran off. "Hey!" he said as he ran after him. He ran to the back alley behind the clinic but didn't see any sign of his dog. "Bullet?" he tried calling out. "C'mere Bullet. Here Bullet." He kept walking until he heard a sound by a dumpster and then bent down to see his dog's eyes reflecting some light as it huddled under there, staring back at him. "There you are. Come on Bullet." But he wasn't moving so Kyle tried to reach in for him. But then he felt a sharp pain and pulled his hand back. "Son of a bitch! Did you just bite me?" But then he looked over a bit farther away and saw that Bullet was standing out there.

He looked back down to see what it was that bit him. He kept hearing a faint whisper saying 'Closer. Come closer' and he moved his hand for it again. Bullet started barking and soon Kyle gave a scream as the shape moved in on him.

* * *

Scott was analyzing the sample from Bullet when his nose twitched. He took a closer look and noticed something odd. "I found something," he said to Deaton.

"Rinse it off," Deaton said bringing him some water.

Scott did and it looked like a brownish speck. "What is that?"

Deaton held it to the light. "Definitely poisonous," he said as he quickly recognized it. "For the dog, and actually for you as well."

"But that's not wolfsbane…right?'

Deaton shook his head. "No. It's mistletoe."

"You say that it can poison werewolves?"

"Yes. On some levels it can be even more lethal than wolfsbane. Your friend Stiles was lucky that he only seemed to have a small amount of it in his body."

Scott's eyes nearly popped. "What?"

"Yes, when you were all here with Isaac and Stiles had that gagging spell and had to relieve himself in my wastebasket, I noticed some traces of mistletoe. The experience must've shocked his system into healing itself of it by expelling it out of him."

So that's what had happened. Come to think of it, Scott had seen something like that before when Derek had been trying to cough out the wolfsbane in him when he had been shot with the bullet. "How could he have been poisoned by it?"

Deaton shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that."

Scott went to go and clean his hands when he heard the sound of a dog frantically barking just outside. He checked it out and saw Bullet running right for him. But, there was no sign of Kyle anywhere.

* * *

Jennifer Blake was walking to her classroom to get her day started but was still a little freaked out by what had happened and was a little jumpy at every little sound. She quickly moved for her room and then shut the door. When she turned around, she let out a shriek when she saw Derek Hale standing there calmly watching her. She reached over to grab the nearest thing which happened to be a pointer stick.

"What do you want?" she asked keeping her eyes on him. "To threaten me? Tell me that no one's going to believe me? Try to scare me? Kill me?" she muttered out.

Derek kept his calm poise through all of it. He took a step forward. "I was going to see if you were okay."

She cast a look down. "Physically or Emotionally? Though I guess that I pre-disposed I was emotionally okay before any of this, at least according to my therapist," she coughed out a little amusingly before she caught herself from rambling more. "It's been debatable for some time," she added more calmly.

That actually made Derek smile a bit before he moved a little closer to her but she took another step back and tightened her hold on the stick. He went to take it from her. "I think you're going to be okay," he said to her softly.

Ms. Blake stared back at him with a small smile. "Obviously you never taught high school. In twenty minutes I have to start two dozen teenagers on The Crucible. And I honestly have no idea on what I'm gonna say."

"Well, why don't you start that its an allegory for McCarthyism?" he suggested.

She narrowed her eyes. "Is that a subtle way of suggesting that I shouldn't say anything, because I won't." Derek moved closer and saw that she was still a little nervous so he went and handed the stick back to her. She smiled gratefully and he moved to leave. "Who are you?" she asked before he could.

"Derek," he said.

"Jennifer," she said back to him.

Derek then stepped out and calmly closed the door behind him.

* * *

Scott was telling Stiles about what happened at the clinic while they were getting ready in the locker room.

"I looked everywhere," he said to him. "It's like he just walked away. Left his car, his dog."

Stiles nodded. "Okay. Was he like, could he have been a virgin maybe? Did he look like a virgin? You know, was he _virginal_?"

Scott shook his head and rolled his eyes. "No. Definitely not. Deaton makes me have sex with all of his clients. It's a new policy," he finished with a laugh. One that Stiles wasn't sharing in as he stared back at him sour faced. That sobered Scott up. "No, I don't know if he was virgin. And, why are you talking like he's already dead. He's just missing."

"Missing and presumed dead Scott. Really? After all this time and that hasn't sunk in yet. Why? Because he's probably a virgin. And you know who else is a virgin, me!" he said pointing furiously to himself. "I'm a virgin and you know what that means? That means that my lack of sexual experience is now literally a threat to my life, okay?!" he said starting to ramble. "I need to have sex! Like right now! Someone needs to have sex with me, like today! Okay, someone needs to sex me right now!" he finished slamming his locker shut.

"Alright, I'll do it," Danny said from behind him making Stiles jump.

"What?!" Stiles shrieked at him.

"Come around my place at 9. Plan to spend the night, I like to cuddle."

Stiles shared a look with Scott and narrowed his eyes as they sensed Danny was trying not to laugh. "Oh, that's so sweet. You're kidding right?"

"Yes, I'm kidding!" Danny burst out. He then walked out chuckling to himself.

"You know, you don't toy with a guy's emotions like that Danny! It's not very attractive," he said after him.

Scott and Stiles then caught a familiar scent and looked over at the door to see Isaac moving into the locker room. Coach went and intercepted him.

"Mr. Lahey, so good to have you back. Not happy that you're late!" he muttered as he walked on passed him.

"Sorry Coach," he sent back at him as he went for his locker.

Coach then took the center of the room. "I'll remind you all that cross country is not optional for lacrosse players!" he spat out. "I don't need you turning into a bunch of fat asses in the off season!" He then stopped when he saw that Danny and Isaac were anything but 'fat asses'. "So, work on that," he finished lamely.

* * *

Isaac was on the trail, tying his shoelaces when a certain scent hit him. The same one from the night that he had been chased on the back of the motorcycle. He then looked to see the twins Aiden and Ethan smirking down at him before they broke into a run when the whistle blew.

Isaac moved to run after them but Scott grabbed him.

"It's them," Isaac gasped out.

"Yeah, I know. You can't." But Isaac broke free from his grip and ran after them. "Isaac!" he yelled out.

Stiles was in the lineup but stopped running as he heard Scott's panicked shout. As he did, Isaac zoomed on passed him. Scott pointed him out and they both ran off in the direction he was heading.

Isaac ran passed everyone and noticed that the twins were running off the trail and he pursued them. The twins noticed that he was following after him and then broke off into a faster run. Isaac came up onto a hill but didn't see any sign of them. He started to frantically look around but couldn't find a trace of the twins until one of them slammed into him from behind and sent him rolling off into a ditch where they both moved to grab him by the arms and forced him up onto his knees, unable to move.

"Ethan?" Aiden said as he pulled on Isaac's hair to force his head back. "I always forget, how many bones are in the human body?"

Ethan smiled at his brother. "I don't know. Let's count."

But he was then given a good punch to the jaw by Scott.

"That's one," Scott shrugged at them.

Aiden let Isaac go and stood up to attack Scott when he was then grabbed from behind and thrown off until he landed on his back. He looked up to see Stiles' face smirking at him.

"I'm curious. Is it true what they say about twins feeling each other's pain? Because if it is then this is really going to hurt," he said with a small grin.

Ethan moved to snap his jaw back into alignment. "Oh, you have no idea," he growled lowly at them.

Immediately, every single one of them brought out their claws and let out a small growl and were prepared to start fighting when a scream rang out. For a moment, they thought that someone stumbled on all of them but they heard more people shouting and saw that it was happening a little aways from them. Stiles gave the air a sniff and his eyes widened at the smell of blood. He immediately took off and ran for that direction and Scott was right behind him. Isaac took a look at the two of them running off and looked back at the twins. He bit the inside of his cheek and then let a small human like growl out before he ran to follow after them. Stiles was on the scene first and saw that there was a body tied to a tree by his neck, just like he had heard Emily's body had been when his dad had found it. Scott nearly bumped into Stiles as he stopped to take a look at the body too and Isaac came up behind them and gasped too.

"That's him, isn't it?" Stiles asked Scott before looking at him.

Scott nodded. Yeah, that was Kyle.

It wasn't too long before the Sheriff had come when the call was made and he immediately started pushing people away.

"Hey, get out of the way! Everyone get back!" he shouted out at everyone before turning to his deputy. "Get this area quartered off before they trample every piece of evidence."

His deputy moved to begin clearing up space. "Back up! Everyone back!"

"Get these kids out of here!" the Sheriff yelled out.

Stiles moved over to his dad and grabbed him by the shoulder. "Dad, come here. Look," he said before pointing over at the body, specifically at the neck and the back of his head. "It's the same as the others, see?" Stiles' nose twitched and he took in a few sniffs as he picked up a familiar scent on the body.

"Yeah, I see that," his father gasped out at him. The Sheriff, again, was thrown with the fact that again Stiles was on another one of these scenes. Even though it was clear that he didn't find the body this time, it looked like Stiles was still in the thick of it. And he couldn't help but wonder why Stiles had sniffed the air like that. But he couldn't start on thinking more on how his son was involved with another of these bizarre murder and homicide cases. "Do me a favor, go back to school, yeah?" Stiles just stared after him a bit before he looked over at Scott and Isaac who just stared blankly back at them. The Sheriff looked over at Finstock. "Coach, give us a hand here?"

Coach then glared at everyone. "You heard the man! Nothing to see here! Probably some homeless kid!"

Scott moved over to him. "Coach, he was a senior."

That made Coach run his hand over his mouth. "Uh, he wasn't on the team, was he?" That made everyone just give him a look.

But the tense silence was broken by a new scream as a girl started running over for the body in tears but was stopped by the deputy. As Scott, Stiles and Isaac started to move, they threw a look over at the twins who were staring at the body tensely themselves.

"You see the way the twins were looking at the body?" Isaac asked.

"Yeah, like they had no idea what happened?" said Stiles.

"Nah, they knew," Isaac said resolutely.

But Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "The kid was strangled with a garrote, alright? Head bashed in and throat cut to boot. Am I the only one recognizing the lack of werewolfitood in these murders?"

"Oh and you think it's a coincidence that they turn up and people start dying?" Isaac rounded on him.

"No I don't, but it's not them," Stiles said back to him. "If you would just think clearly for a second you might've noticed the smell of surprise that came off of them when they saw the kid. Or the fact that the body didn't have any trace of their scent on it."

"That doesn't prove that they didn't do it," Isaac argued.

"Oh, and what would the Alphas need to be sacrificing virgins for? Then there's the flowers." Stiles then looked at Scott. "It was there, did you notice? That same scent that was on the other bodies. The same flowery smell."

"Mistletoe," Scott said.

Stiles' eyes widened. "What?"

"The flower. It's mistletoe. Kyle brought in his dog because it was sick and Deaton found out that it had eaten some mistletoe and I noticed that it had the same exact scent from the bodies. It's also what you coughed up the night we were at Deaton's with Isaac."

Stiles started to sputter uncontrollably. "And, you wait until now to tell me all that?!"

Isaac rolled his eyes. "You gotta be kidding me. Scott, don't tell me you're actually buying into any of this?"

Scott looked over at Isaac and seemed to be shrinking a bit. "Well," he started.

Stiles folded his arms and focused his narrowed eyes on his best friend. "Well what?"

Scott looked back over at him. "Uh…well, he does have a point. I mean, seriously Stiles, human sacrifices?"

Stiles was taken aback. "Scott, one year ago our eyes didn't turn into yellow glowsticks. Hair grows out from our cheeks and immediately disappears. And if I were to magically bring out my claws and stab them into you then you would magically start to heal and you're telling me that you are having trouble grasping human sacrifices?"

Scott let out a small puff of air and looked over at Isaac. "He has a good point too."

But Isaac shook his head. "You know what, I don't care. Okay, they killed that kid. They killed the girl that saved me. They killed Erica. And I'm going to kill them," he finished resolutely. Isaac tried to leave but Stiles went and brought his arm out and stopped him. "Let me through Stiles," he said lowly at him.

But Stiles didn't move a muscle and just glared at him. "I get that you're angry Isaac."

"No, you don't. You don't get any of this!" Isaac spat at him.

Stiles breathed hard from his nose and then grabbed Isaac and pushed him into a tree. Scott moved to put his hand on his friend's shoulder but saw that Stiles was only holding Isaac to the tree as he gave Isaac a glare. The golden glow from Stiles' eyes made Scott freeze in his tracks. Stiles kept that look at Isaac who wasn't even trying to pull himself free but was glaring back at him.

"Now listen here Isaac. You think I don't get any of this! I do. All of it is infuriating. It's painful. And it feels downright personal. Am I getting warm?" he sarcastically asked him. Isaac just kept eye contact with Stiles through his glare. "You know how I know? Because you better believe that's how I feel. Okay, don't think that you're the only one that lost people to all of this. I was powerless to save a girl too. I've known her since we were toddlers and I couldn't save her. I had to see her corpse on a metal slab with her throat cut and head bashed in. So yeah, you better believe I get it. And as for Erica, she didn't belong to just you, Derek and Boyd. She was one of us and her death hit all of us."

Isaac's glare softened a bit and he stared back at Stiles like someone died in front of him. "Obviously it didn't hit you hard enough. Not if you two are just going to stand back and do nothing."

Stiles then let him go and Isaac moved to straighten himself out and then stomped off to distance himself from them.

Scott then moved to stand by him. "You know that he's going to go after them the first chance he gets, right?" he asked Stiles as they watched Isaac's retreating back.

"Yeah," Stiles sighed. "But let's hope he can restrain himself until we know more. You better pay a close watch on him today."

Scott turned to look at Stiles with his eyes narrowed in confusion. "Why? What are you going to do?"

"I have to look into something." Stiles then took off in the direction of the school himself.

Scott was left there staring now at his friend's retreating back.

* * *

Over in the library, Allison was looking up and down a bookcase looking for something to help her on an assignment and plucked one from the shelf. She started to move for the front desk but ducked back behind the case as she noticed Stiles over at the library's computer station. He looked to be printing something online before he quickly moved for his pockets and took out his phone. She thought that he looked frantic and wondered what he was up to.

Stiles went and texted Scott's mom as he asked her to look up something for him while he printed up the pages he found on ritual sacrifices and the uses of mistletoe in them too. He found many references to the Celts. He went to the printer and took out a paper that had a few symbols on them. Symbols that he had seen before. He gathered up the rest of the information he found and jammed it into his bag and went to move when he saw Allison approaching him.

"Hey," she said as she calmly walked up to him. Stiles just stayed quiet as he moved to close out of the computer. Allison pushed down a wave of annoyance to hit her and cleared her throat. "What are you doing?" she said to try and stay civil.

"Stuff," he answered as soon as he was done closing his session.

"For school or…other things?"

"Stuff," he said simply as he went to grab his bag and put a strap over his shoulder.

Stiles spared her a look for a second before he headed out of the library. Stiles moved into a staircase and started to head down when the door behind him opened and Allison called out his name causing him to freeze in mid-step.

"Stiles, could you wait a second?" she said to him. "I wanted to talk to you."

Stiles spared her an annoyed look. "You want to talk Allison? Well, then you can start by not trying to pretend that we're friends. We're not friends Allison and we never were, even before. You were Lydia's friend and Scott's girlfriend and I was crushing on Lydia and was Scott's best friend but you and I weren't and never will be. So don't act as if you're trying to make us friends again, okay?"

She pushed down the wave of hurt that he gave her when he said that. "Stiles, I'm just trying to apologize," she managed to get out.

That made Stiles' eyes widen and look back up at Allison on the top of the landing. "Apologize?"

Allison nodded as she slowly walked down to be at his level. "Yeah, about…everything."

"Everything?" he repeated.

"Yeah, I wanted to say sorry, about what happened to you," she said softly as she gazed at him. "I know everything. About how you and Derek were only trying to save his life."

But Stiles narrowed his eyes at her as he stared her down. "Yeah, I know. Scott told me about what happened at the vault," he said angrily. "So, now that you know the truth, it makes a difference? Suddenly, you nearly killing Derek and shooting me and taking me and Boyd and Erica to get tortured and bleed out in your basement was wrong when before it would've been okay?"

"No," she cried out indignantly. She couldn't believe Stiles said that.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Yeah right."

"Stiles, I'm sorry, okay!" she cried out. "I'm sorry. Listen to my heart if it makes you need proof. I'm sorry!"

Stiles still glared at her. "Yeah, I can hear it and I can tell that you are sorry Allison. I'm just wondering what you are sorry about. Are you sorry for what you did to us or are just sorry for _why_ you did it?"

Allison narrowed her eyes at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that four months ago you used Boyd and Erica for target practice, made Isaac into your pincushion, tried to take Derek's head off, shot me full of poison before capturing me and made my father go through a suspenseful hell and the person that you quickly went and apologized to was Scott? To the only one that you weren't trying to hurt and kill? Sounds like you are only sorry for Scott and not for any of us. If Scott hadn't finally told you, would you be standing here trying to apologize at all? You certainly didn't seem so apologetic about doing any of it just the other day with Derek and me," he angrily spat at her.

Allison gripped her right hand into a small fist but she loosened it and took a deep breath. "You and Derek attacked my mother and she had to kill herself. What was I supposed to think?" she calmly said to defend herself.

"Not that we attacked for nothing," Stiles said in their defense. "I for one told you that if anything happened then I would answer it. You saw that I answered, you should've guessed that it was over something serious. I'm sure that you weren't so blind that you didn't have some idea of how much of a psycho your mother was? Given the rest of your crazy family, you shouldn't have been so surprised." A very loud smack sounded after that as Allison went and slapped Stiles across the face with a hard look on her face. Stiles could've stopped her but he let it happen. He hardly reacted to it. "Is that how you normally apologize to people?" he asked her sarcastically as she glared back at him.

"You don't know anything about my family," she spat at him.

"Oh, I know more than enough and so does Scott. He may not want to see it because of you so I have to see it for him. You all are dangerous. Your murdering grandfather, your homicidal aunt, your trigger happy father and your psycho mother. Scott went up close and personal with all of them. And then there's you. Now, Scott may want to try and believe the psychosis skipped over you but it's painfully clear that it didn't. He only heard about what you did, he didn't see it or feel it for himself. I did. That look on your face when you hunted and hurt the others, slowly shooting arrows into them...I won't ever be forgetting it," he promised her. He sometimes had some nightmares where it was him that Allison was shooting up with arrows. All while wearing that hard but pleasured gleam in her eyes as she shot and hunted him just for the mere pleasure of seeing and hearing his pain just as she did to Erica and Boyd that night. It gave him chills just thinking about it. He was about to take off but stopped and turned to point his finger at her. "Let me give you one friendly piece of advice: Stay away from Scott. He's finally getting his act back together and learning to accept being a werewolf and that was because you weren't around. The last thing he needs is to go down that slope again. So, if you really do care about Scott and want to help him like you say you do, stay away. And stay away from me too while you're at it."

Stiles then moved to head down the next landing of stairs and slammed the door open hard as he left the staircase, leaving Allison glaring at the spot he just vacated.

* * *

Cora was working hard in the loft, pushing herself into a vigorous sweat. Her brother Derek was watching her with both concern and annoyance as he watched her force herself into doing quick and strenuous pull ups on a metal bar.

"Stop," he suddenly said at her when she let out a gasp. "You're not done healing."

Cora dropped down and spared him a small look. "Yeah, well I'm done lying around." She then went to begin doing some pushups.

"Then sit," Derek said not losing an inch.

"Are you going to help me go after them?" she asked before beginning her pushups. Derek went over and kicked at her hand in order to make her drop to the ground and stop her from pushing her body more. Cora grit her teeth and moved to try and clobber him but Derek blocked every single blow easily but didn't strike back at her. "Come on, fight back!" she spat at him. He grabbed at her wrists and she pulled away from him. "I came back for this?!" she said angrily. "I can't believe that I got my ass thrown in a vault for three months for you. All those rumors I heard, a powerful new Alpha, one of the Hales, building a pack. Do you know how long I waited to hear something like that? Do you have any idea how it felt like to hear that you were alive?!"

Derek lowered his gaze. He had an idea about how it felt like. After all, he was happy to see that his little sister was alive after all this time. And he was happy to see her look like she could somewhat take care of herself. Though it seemed that he was not giving her the same happiness in return. "Sorry to disappoint you," he muttered.

But then a loud buzzer went out and the two Hales looked over at the flashing red light.

"What's that?" Cora asked.

"Trouble," Derek grimly answered.

And it was followed by the door being slid open and Ennis from the Alpha Pack standing on the other side of it. He glared his red eyes at them and bared his teeth. Cora growled in kind.

"Wait!" Derek shouted at her.

But Cora ignored him and ran for Ennis to attack. But Ennis easily grabbed Cora by the neck and slammed her down to the ground. He looked over at Derek and smirked at him. "Ready for a rematch?" he asked mockingly.

Derek moved to try and help Cora but looked up as he noticed Kali step inside. She ran for him and tried to strike at him with her clawed feet. Derek quickly blocked her kick and flipped her away from him but she gracefully landed on her feet. She reached for the pole that Cora was using before and ripped it off the wall. She twirled it at Derek and slammed him across the face and forced him to the ground. She then went and thrust it right through his back and nailed him to the ground. Derek howled in pain and Cora squealed in fright at the sight of her hurt brother.

"Is everyone done?" Deucalion slowly moved on in, tapping his stick in front of him as he calmly entered. "Because just listening to that was exhausting." He moved over until he was directly in front of Derek before disassembling bent down in front of him. "So, let's chat," he said with a smile at him.

* * *

Ms. Morrell was beginning a pronunciation exercise in her French class as she walked down the middle but stopped when she noticed that Allison was lying with her head on the desk, sleeping.

She folded her arms. "Mademoiselle?" she said calmly. "Mademoiselle Argent?" she asked again.

"Allison!"

At that Allison's eyes shot open and she sat up but she gasped as she saw her mother glaring at her. Her eyes blazing and expression merciless. She then blinked and the image was gone and replaced by Ms. Morrell. Allison guessed that her recent revelations about her mother, as well as Stiles' spat on her, was starting to weigh in on her mind.

"Sorry," she said to her when she asked if she was still with them in French to the amusement of everyone else.

But then the bell rang and everyone started to head out but Morrell went and sat down in front of her. "You're starting to concern me Allison. Maybe we should have a chat in the guidance office sometime?"

Allison gave her a mild glare. "Or maybe you should tell me what you were doing in the bank the other night?"

Morrell narrowed her eyes at her. "Maybe you should tell me what _you_ were doing there?" she countered. When Allison looked away, she loosened up. "Looks like we have a situation here. Tell you what, give me the French word that is the same in English and you could avoid lunch time detention."

"Uh-" Allison was drawing a blank.

"Impasse," Morrell answered for her. She then walked off leaving Allison staring sternly after her.

* * *

Over in Harris' class he began a lecture on Inertia vs. Momentum.

"Alright," he said to them. "Since Inertia is a subject that you all know plenty, why don't we start with Momentum?" He looked over and picked Danny. "Danny, what do we know about Momentum?"

"Uh, it's a product of mass and velocity. The massive something is then the faster its going," he answered.

As he was talking, Scott was sitting behind Isaac who was glaring on ahead and was purposely trying to ignore him as he tried to reason with him.

"They're here for a reason," Scott muttered to him. "Okay, please give us a chance to figure it out before you do anything? Okay? Isaac?"

Isaac couldn't stand any more of this talk of waiting and doing nothing so he interrupted the class. "Mr. Harris, could I use the bathroom please?"

Harris gave him the okay and Isaac left. Scott couldn't just let Isaac go. He had to watch and get through to him so he stood up also.

"I have to go to the bathroom too," he said.

But Harris stopped him. "One at a time," he told him sternly.

"But I really have to go," Scott said quickly. "Like medical emergency have to go." He even shook a bit to help his case.

But Harris was unyielding. "Mr. McCall if your bladder suddenly exploded and urine began to pour from every orifice, I would respond one at a time. Was that enough hyperbole for you or would you like for me to come up with something more vivid?"

Scott exhaled in defeat. "No, no that's…pretty good," he said going back to his seat.

Isaac closed the door behind him and headed off to try and cool himself down but stopped when he noticed that the twins were right there outside the classroom. They looked ready for a fight and Isaac was eager to give them one. However, he was taken aback when Aiden went and punched his brother Ethan right across the face. Ethan got up and smiled over at Isaac before he turned back to his brother and received another strike across the face. Aiden kept beating him and Ethan kept getting up for more with a smile on his face. Isaac just stood there and wondered just what the heck they were doing as Ethan was thrown off to land by Isaac's feet. Ethan's feet banged against the lockers and it drew Mr. Harris to look outside.

"What's going on out here?" Harris asked them.

Everyone started to look to see what was going on and Isaac saw that Aiden was disappearing down the hall and out of sight.

Danny moved for Ethan and helped him up. "What happened?"

Ethan just shook his head in Isaac's direction. "He just attacked me," he muttered out.

Harris gave Isaac a stern look. "Isaac, what did you do?"

Scott looked down at Ethan and saw a glimmer of a smile on his face as everyone looked at Isaac accusingly. He knew that Isaac didn't do anything.

Harris gave Isaac lunch time detention as punishment for hurting another student. Isaac stomped off and Scott moved to follow after him.

"Don't let it bother you," he said to Isaac calmly. "It's just lunch time detention. If all they want right now is to piss you off then don't give in. They're just trying to get to you."

Isaac made it to his locker but stopped when he noticed something on the other side of the hall. "It's not just me."

Scott then looked over and saw that Aiden was over with Lydia by her locker and focused his hearing to listen in on what they were saying.

"What about tonight?" Aiden asked.

"Nope," Lydia said before closing her locker. "Studying."

"I could help you," Aiden responded quickly.

Lydia folded her arms at him. "Do you have an IQ higher than 170?"

Aiden's smile widened a bit. "Okay, you could help me. Tonight then?"

Lydia gave him a look before she smiled and gave him an affirming tap on his chest. Aiden watched her go off before he looked over and noticed that Scott and Isaac were watching him. He just sent a smirk their way and walked off.

Scott picked up a change in Isaac's scent. "What?" he said to him.

"Now they're getting to you," Isaac smirked at him.

* * *

Stiles had cut Harris' class to head for the hospital to see if the theory behind what he read online was true or not. He snuck in and found the room where his father was talking to Kyle's girlfriend Ashley and tried to listen in on them. However, he saw that the talks were over and Ashley was moving to leave the room. Stiles moved to sit in a chair beside the room and calmly watched as Ashley stepped out.

"Wait right here, okay?" the deputy asked her and Ashley tearfully nodded.

When the deputy went back inside, Stiles moved in. "Uh, hey Ashley," he said to her gently. "Hi, could I talk to you for just one second? Sorry," he said as he moved her a bit away from the room. "I just need to ask you something really quick and it's going to sound really, unbelievably insensitive so I apologize in advance." Ashley looked at him and he braced himself. "Um, was Kyle a virgin?"

"What?" Ashley asked him a little gobsmacked.

"Kyle, was he a virgin or did you guys, you know-"

But then Ashley went and gave Stiles a good slap across the face. Given that he was slapped already once today he kept his composure, mostly.

The deputy heard the slap and moved to take Ashley away but the girl stopped and looked back at him. "No, he wasn't a virgin," she said softly before she was escorted out.

The sheriff came out of the room too and looked from his son, to the girl and back to his son with a heated gaze. "Have you completely lost your mind?" Stiles just avoided looking his dad in the eye. "I've got four murders Stiles!" he hounded on him before pointing back into the room he left. "You see those men in there. That's the FBI. They're pulling together a task force to help because it looks like we've got a full blown serial killer on our hands. Do you get that?"

"Yes dad, I get that," Stiles hissed out.

"Then what are you doing?" he asked.

"Stiles," Stiles and his dad looked over to see Melissa standing off to the side. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Stiles looked back over at his dad. "Trying to find the pattern," he answered before he moved over to Melissa. "Yeah?"

"Follow me," she told him as she led him away.

The Sheriff looked over at the feds in the room to the corridor that Melissa had led his son down. He moved to the doorframe and gave it a knock. "Listen, I have to check on something for a minute, I'll be right back," he told them before he moved off to follow after them. He knew that Stiles was connected to this somehow and he had to learn what before his son ended up in who knew what kind of trouble. He noticed that they moved for one of the file rooms. He moved for the door and could just hear their voices from inside.

"You found what I asked?" Stiles asked her eagerly.

"Yes," she huffed. "And it wasn't easy. Okay, I looked at the finished autopsy reports on the first three bodies and you were right. All three of the victims had strong quantities of mistletoe in their system though the reports say that none of them died from poisoning."

"So, it was done to them after they died then?"

"Yeah," Melissa sighed. "It's looking like that."

"And Kyle is sure to have mistletoe in his system too," said Stiles. "I could smell it from when we found the body on the trail. That means that whoever killed the first three killed him."

"Do you know who or what did? Is it those people that Scott told me about? Those Alphas?"

"The Alpha Pack, and no, I don't think so," Stiles said absentmindedly. "Two of them were with us when the body was found and they seemed just as surprised as we are. My gut says that they're not doing this but I think they still could be connected to it all somehow."

"Connected to what?" she asked him in almost a whisper. "You just said that you don't think those others are involved. Are you sure that there is no chance that this isn't your kind of problem and it really is just a normal homicidal lunatic?"

"I'm afraid that would be wishful thinking. These aren't murders. They're sacrifices. I looked up ritual sacrifices online and saw some references to mistletoe being stuffed into the offerings. At first, I thought it was just all virgin sacrifices but this new one, Kyle, wasn't a virgin so it looks like there's more to it than that. But what?"

"You're asking me? I'm still half lost on you guys as it's been months since I found about all of this so I'm the wrong person to ask."

"No…but I think I know where to find the right person to ask," Stiles said resolutely.

"Right but find and ask after school Stiles," she told him sternly. "You don't want to give yourself more trouble on top of everything else. Not like Scott did."

Stiles let out a deep breath. "Okay."

"And Stiles, maybe you should also think about telling your father about what's really going on?"

"No, we can't." He quickly said. "Everything is hard enough on him as it is. The last thing he needs is to be thinking about all of this too."

"Stiles, take it from me as a parent, he already can tell that something is going on with you. He's going to find out eventually. Better that he hears it from you then it jumping right into his face like with what happened to me."

"Yeah, well that time isn't anywhere near now," Stiles said before he moved and opened the door.

Stiles came out of the room and headed off for the main entrance of the hospital and Melissa saw him out. Around the corner, the Sheriff watched the two of them with lost but calculating eyes.


	8. Unleashed part 2

Chapter 8: Unleashed part 2

"Sorry about this Derek," Deucalion said softly as he was calmly sitting in a chair he pulled up in front of the incapacitated werewolf. "I asked Kali to be gentle but-"

"This is me being gentle," she said to him as she tightened her hold on the bar that she had running through Derek and twisted it.

Derek tried to fight though the fresh bit of pain he was feeling with being impaled and nailed to the floor. He could hear Cora's faint whimpering. "Let her go," he pleaded. Deucalion signaled Ennis to release Cora and he did. Cora quickly went to run to be by Derek's side. But he shook his head at her. "No," he muttered to her and Cora stopped but gazed at him frightfully.

"See?" said Deucalion. "We're not unreasonable."

"What do you want?" Derek slowly asked. "To kill me?"

That made the Alpha smile amusingly. "You really think I'm that boring? Don't throw me in with sociopaths like your uncle. I'm a man with far more vision than simple murder. In fact," he said as he slowly pulled his glasses off to reveal his pale red eyes. "I'm here to show you all how much vision a blind man can have." His eyes then started to burn a brighter red glow.

Kali pushed on the pole and Derek started to spit out a fresh wave of blood.

"You're killing him!" Cora shouted at her.

Kali just calmly smiled over at the girl. "Not yet little sister, but I could. Who knows if its five minutes or five hours before it's too late to remove this thing. But, just to be on the safe side Duke, you may want to get to the point."

Deucalion put his glasses back on and let a sigh loose. "Now you see the one problem in being in an Alpha Pack. Everybody wants to make the decisions. Me? I'm all about discovering new talents."

"Not interested," Derek spat.

"Ah Derek, right there is one defining weakness in every Alpha of a pack, they always seem to think that everything's about them. I don't want you, but there is something I want _from_ you."

"What? To kill…my own pack?" he managed to spit out through the pain.

His question made Deucalion's smile widen. "No. You could keep your pack of mild mannered teenagers if that's what you want. Though I have no idea why you would want to tie yourself down to a bunch of self-absorbed youths who are bound to be liabilities? We've all known what it was like to be tied down, until we cut them loose." He then raised his head. "Kali, what was it like to kill one of your own?"

Kali went and took a deep, blissful breath. "Liberating," she smiled out.

"Yes, it is liberating. You should heed Kali Derek. Your pack of misfits would only bring you trouble. In fact, one of them is getting into quite a bit of trouble right now," Deucalion had an amused smirk on his face.

"Then…what do you want?" Derek coughed out again.

Deucalion went and got up. "I told you…new talent. And from what I hear, Beacon Hills has recently unearthed a pair of rising stars. Two boys that in the span of half a year from being turned managed to overcome their rabid Alpha, face down a Kanima and all but destroy the infamous hunting legacy of the Argent Family."

Derek's eyes widened. He knew who Deucalion was talking about. "Scott and Stiles," he gasped out.

* * *

Harris was overseeing lunch time detention where there were six students partaking. He then began assigning them their tasks and would be grouping them in pairs.

"The two of you will wash all the boards in this hall," he said to two students before moving to the next two. "Re-shelving the Library," he assigned them. Then he made his way to Allison and Isaac. "Restocking the Janitor's closet."

Isaac widened his eyes as he spared a look over at Allison who didn't look any bit happy about this either. He got up and went for the chemistry teacher. "Uh, Mr. Harris, does it have to be with her?" he tried to whisper but Allison could hear what he said.

Harris just smiled at him. "Now that I know you prefer not to, yes. You have to be with her."

Isaac sighed and sent an annoyed look Allison's way. "Great," he muttered.

* * *

Stiles got back to school but stopped when he noticed that there was a makeshift memorial set up at Kyle's locker. He took the time to look at all of the messages and photos left behind for him but froze when he saw Boyd stick a card on there.

"Oh Boyd," he said before the guy could leave. "I didn't know you were back at school."

Boyd shrugged. "Yeah, I would've told you but we're not actually friends."

"Oh yeah," he said dismissing the sarcasm. "You feeling okay now?"

Boyd gave him a mild and slightly uncaring look. "I'll survive."

Stiles nodded before he looked back at the card he left on Kyle's locker. "So, you knew Kyle?"

He nodded. "Yeah, we were in Junior ROTC together."

"So you two were friends then?" Stiles asked him.

Boyd gave him a look. "I only had one friend, and she's dead too."

Boyd then walked off leaving Stiles to gaze back at the memorial. Stiles still didn't have anything that popped out at him about Kyle. What was the new pattern?

* * *

Isaac and Allison moved into the janitor's closet and began to start working but made it so that they weren't looking at each other more than they had to. But Isaac was finding it hard to do as he couldn't just stay still and look at one thing for too long in this room and was incessantly fidgeting.

Allison noticed how tense Isaac was and felt that it wasn't because of her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he gasped out. "Just…not a big fan of small spaces." He then moved to quickly start restocking the shelves to diminish his time in there.

Allison began to clean one of the shelves and spared him a look. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Do you have to?" Isaac asked as he kept shelving supplies.

She shrugged. So far, talking with Isaac was going much easier than her earlier talk with Stiles. "I guess not. I'll ask anyway. Did you tell anyone that I was at the school the other night?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Was I supposed to?"

"It would make me very happy if you didn't," she said to him.

"Yeah? Well, you being happy isn't really a big priority of mine. Not since you stabbed me…twenty times, with knives," he added nonchalantly.

"Uh, they were actually Chinese ring daggers," she couldn't help but correct him.

He sent a smirk her way. "Was that an apology?"

She gave him a look. "Would you accept an apology?" It would be nice if at least _one_ person she hurt chose to forgive her today. And she never really was mad at Isaac since he hadn't really been involved in the whole mess with her mother. He had just unfortunately gotten in her way, not that it made her feel any better about having to hurt him that night. Hurt any of them despite what Stiles may believe.

Isaac gave a chuckle but it was cut when the door to the closet slammed shut behind them. And then the lights went out. Isaac quickly went to try and open the door but it wouldn't budge. "No, no, no," he said as he fiddled with the doorknob.

"Uh, maybe it locked from the outside?" said Allison.

Isaac looked over at the edge of the door closely and saw that the door wasn't locked at all. It just wasn't budging open more than an inch or so. "No, there's something blocking the door," he grunted as he went and put more strength behind his push.

But it didn't move and Isaac then started to pace. He quickly moved to take his sweater off as he started to breathe faster.

Allison noticed how he was getting. "Uh, okay," she said gently to him. "Uh, just relax. Isaac?"

"No," Isaac softly cried out. "I can't."

"Isaac, relax," she said more sternly to him.

Isaac went and started to lean a bit on the door. His breathing got heavier. "Come on. Come on," he muttered.

"Isaac?" Allison said. But then Isaac started to tapping his hand on the door incessantly. "Isaac," she said more forcefully at him. But then Isaac made a fist and started to beat on the door hard. "Isaac, relax Isaac!" she started to cry at him.

"No!" Isaac was starting to lose it. He was seeing the dark insides of the locked freezer and hearing his father's voice hound on him from the outside. The memories and trauma made him start to shift a bit and he glared over at Allison with a gold gleam in his eye.

Allison stepped back and held her hands up. "Isaac, don't. Please?" But Isaac then went forward and grabbed at her. "Isaac!"

Scott had been in the cafeteria and went looking for Stiles to try and find out why he ditched Harris' class but saw no sign of him so he went to find him. As he walked down the halls, he picked up the frantic heartbeat of Allison and it was beating faster by the second. He quickly moved to follow it and found it coming from the janitor's closet but there was a vending machine blocking it. He quickly moved it to the side and threw open the door to see Isaac advancing on her half shifted. He quickly moved and pulled him off her and threw him into the hall.

Scott didn't see any visible wounds on Allison and so he quickly went for Isaac before he could get up. He was still shifted and he growled at him so Scott grabbed his neck and growled back. "Isaac!" Scott roared at him letting his own eyes burn at him. That seemed to settle Isaac down.

Allison then stepped out and Scott saw she was holding her wrist which had a bruise on it starting to form. He looked like he was going to get angry and Allison quickly remembered Stiles' rage at her about Scott 'going back down that slope' and tried to dispel the situation. "It's okay," she said quickly to him.

"I'm sorry," Isaac cried out at them. "I didn't mean to do that."

"I'm okay," she said to him.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

Scott was looking down at Isaac with a mild glare.

"It's not his fault," Allison quickly said in his defense.

Scott nodded. "I know," he huffed. "I guess now we know that they want to do more than get you angry. They want to get someone hurt."

Isaac looked up as he said that. "So, are we going to do something?" he asked a little hopeful that they would finally strike against them.

"Yeah," Scott said to him. "I'm going to get _them_ angry. _Very_ angry."

* * *

Stiles was stuck so, before he went to seek his source after school like he promised Scott's mom, he went to the only person at this school who could help him think and come up with something. He tracked her coming out of lunch and then suddenly started to bombard her with the facts that he learned online about ritual sacrifices.

"You know there's a temple in Calcutta where they used to sacrifice a child everyday?" he said to Lydia who was fast walking away from him. But he easily kept up. "That's every day Lydia a dead baby. Hey, do you want to know what today is? It's Dead Baby Day, oh wait, that's every day. Because _every day_ is Dead Baby Day Lydia. Yay!" he finished.

Lydia tilted her head as she kept walking. "Why are you telling me this?" she finally asked.

"Because Scott's a little busy trying to keep Isaac from getting ripped apart by the Alpha Twins," he explained. That made Lydia stop and look at him and Stiles could smell the surprise leak from her. "Wait, you didn't know about the twins?"

"Alphas?" she asked.

"Yeah. Ethan and Aiden, they're Alphas. From the Alpha Pack."

"Oh," she said resuming her walk a little freaked out.

Stiles moved to follow after her again. "Okay, so look. Here's what I'm thinking. What if the murders are coming in threes? Ancient peoples loved things in threes. So maybe the first three were virgins and the next three are people…that own little dogs?"

Lydia stopped again. "I have a little dog." Stiles went to grasp his hips as he looked at her. Lydia shook her head. "No, I'm not getting rid of my little dog," she then resumed her walk.

Stiles jumped after her. "At least _think_ about getting rid of your little dog," he begged her.

"No. And by the way, you cannot discern a pattern by a single data point so stop trying."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Oh, so I'm just supposed to wait around for someone else to die? Just sit there and let somebody else get their throat cut, choke and get their brains bashed in? Wait and watch them wither up and die in front of me?" he rambled at her.

Lydia looked over at him again. "Wither?"

Stiles sighed. "You know what I mean."

She saw the look on his face and she could see that he was really torn up about all of this. "Maybe it's not your job," she tried to tell him. "You said it yourself, they were strangled with a garrote. That's a human thing to do so maybe you should leave the figuring out part to someone human."

Stiles deflated. "You mean someone like my dad?" he muttered to her.

"No," Lydia huffed. "I _mean_ your dad. The Sheriff." She then moved to head off for her next class.

But Stiles couldn't do that. Whoever this person was, they seemed to know how to handle and avoid someone like Stiles when he tried to save Heather and got him poisoned and made him lose track of her scent. Who knew what they could do to a human like his father? Stiles couldn't take it anymore. He needed answers and he couldn't wait much longer to get them.

* * *

Derek was still bleeding out from the pipe still stuck inside him and it was making a small pool of blood form underneath him. Cora was whimpering at the sight while Deucalion, Kali and Ennis were indifferent to his plight.

Deucalion started to disassemble his walking stick. "See, the reason I'm always invested in new talent is simple," he said as if this was a simple sit down conversation. "We all know that a pack is strongest due to its individual parts. The stronger the individual part, the greater the whole. When I lost my sight, one of my betas assumed I wasn't fit for my role anymore. He tried to take it from me. Killing him taught me something about Alphas that I didn't know they could do. His power was added to mine. I became stronger, faster, more powerful than I'd ever been. I tested this new ability to subsume the power of your own by killing another one," he said with a smile before he let out a laugh. "In fact, I killed them all. I took the greater individual parts and became a greater individual whole." He finished by reforming his walking stick. "Which brings me to the subject at hand. The pair of young rogue wolves. One of them, Mr. McCall who is shaping up to be a great individual part that strengthens any whole he wants. While he may be a stubborn youth with a grave Shakespearian Hero Complex, he is one that commands respect and admiration from a pack not even truly his own." He smiled down at Derek. "Even the pack's Alpha has been known to bow to him from time to time. Kali, what does that say to you?"

"That the boy clearly has more balls than the man," she said amusingly as she leaned down on the bar a bit more.

The blind man moved to adjust his glasses better. "Talent like young McCall's, you don't see that everyday. But…his friend Mr. Stilinski, now that's just unheard of," he said with a bit of a sneer. "An individual part that appears to be his own whole."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come now Derek. Don't play coy with me. Surely, you must have some idea what I do mean. We've all heard of it. His own personal strength, intelligence and even his wrath. His deliberate crippling of our hunter enemies was fascinating enough but scarring a signature on his defeated enemies, I found that bit particularly gratifying; wouldn't you say Ennis?"

The brute man shrugged. "It wasn't bad."

"You might not believe this but for Ennis, that's actually quite excitable," Deucalion said with an amused smirk. "And all that is just the tip of the iceberg, isn't it Derek?" he asked as he tilted his head. "Stiles? I believe that is what he likes to be called, correct? You've seen it haven't you? All the _other_ things he could do," he said sinisterly.

"What do you want from me then?" Derek coughed up, not going to confirm what he knew Deucalion was fishing for.

"Your help of course. You see, Mr. Stilinski, he's taken to the bite well enough but I believe him to be capable of more. So much more. And _that's_ where you come in Derek. You're going to step in and help draw it out."

"How?" he gasped out before spitting up more blood.

"Well, you're going to kill him. I'm sure the threat of death will coax it out of him. It seems that when the situation turns desperate enough that young wolf lets himself grow into his claws. But if not, and you manage to bring him down, then it would seem he wasn't worth his grain of salt after all."

"No," Derek spat. He couldn't kill Stiles. As annoying as the guy sometimes was, he'd done a lot for him and his pack. And Scott also would never forgive him if he did anything to Stiles.

"Oh, you will Derek. You will either kill Stiles, or we will kill her," he said pointing his stick over in Cora's direction. "Your recently rediscovered little sister and the rest of your delinquent baggage." Deucalion then moved and bent down to feel Derek's face. "You're right Kali. He looks like his mother." He then stood up. "Your mother was quite a remarkable Alpha Derek. One of the few that I actually idolized and you'll come to know me just as she did."

"I know you," he spat out. "I know what you are. You're a fanatic."

Deucalion went and put his stick down on the table. He then turned so that everyone could get a better look at him. "Know me? You've never seen anything like me. I'm am the Alpha of Alphas. I am the Apex of Apex Predators! I am Death, Destroyer of Worlds! I am THE DEMON WOLF!" he roared breaking the lens of his glasses. Cora and Ennis were eyeing Deucalion tensely as Kali went and removed the metal bar from Derek's body. Deucalion then removed his glasses and felt the cracks with his fingers. "Hate it when that happens," he muttered.

The Alphas then moved to leave the loft and Cora ran to be by Derek's side.

* * *

Allison was with Isaac in the school's parking lot as they moved for Aiden's bike and she began to unbolt it. Isaac was keeping lookout but he was getting edgy.

"How long is this going to take?" he asked her impatiently.

She gave him a mild glare but stopped when she noticed how close their faces were. She felt flustered for a moment there before she moved the last piece and started it up. She then helped Isaac learn how to use the throttles and brakes of the thing to begin the plan. She then gave him a small smile. "Try not to crash," she said with a bit of a laugh in her tone.

Isaac smiled wider. "Yeah, been there, done that."

Allison then moved back and took a photo of him with her phone and quickly sent it to Scott.

Scott entered Ms. Blake's class and looked at his phone when he got the picture. He sought out the twins and went to sit next to them.

"Alright everyone," Ms. Blake called out to the class. "I know that this is the last class of the day and to be honest, I want to get out of here too."

Scott turned to smile at the two of them. He then brought out a part from the bike and spun it in his hand which made their eyes widen at the side of it. "That looks kind of important," he said as he placed it on his desk. He then picked up another. "I have no idea what this one does."

At that Aiden straightened up in his chair before moving to run out of the classroom.

"Wait," Ethan tried calling after him. "Aiden don't."

But Aiden didn't stop. He kept running to the shock of both the class and Ms. Blake. He ran out into the hall and came upon Isaac riding his bike right up to him. He moved to stop him but Isaac quickly hit the brakes anyway.

"Get off my bike!" he spat.

Isaac went and took the helmet off and calmly looked him down. "No problem," he said as he then got off and quickly moved and flipped up out of sight.

Now Aiden was left with his bike in the middle of the hall as students started moving to see what the noise was all about in a mirror of what he had done with Isaac being with his beaten brother.

Ms. Blake stomped over at him with a glare. "You have got to be kidding me. You realize that this is going to result in a suspension."

Both Aiden and Ethan narrowed their eyes and looked over at Scott, Allison and Isaac who were smirking quite cockily at them.

* * *

Stiles got to the animal clinic and let himself in. Deaton heard the door and his eyes widened at the sight of him.

"You're out of school early," he verbally observed.

"Yeah, free period," Stiles said dismissively. "I was going to see my dad because, well, I take it you heard that people are getting murdered again. And it's his job to figure it out."

"I gathered as much from the Sheriff title," Deaton said amusingly.

But Stiles wasn't smiling. He kept his focus. "Yeah, but it gets kind of hard to do that job when he doesn't have all the information. Given that he only ever gets half the story, I'm sure you could understand that." Deaton nodded at that. "But then I started thinking about who around here does usually have all the information," Stiles continued. "Someone that _always_ seems to know what's happening around here." He then raised his gaze up to catch his eyes. "You."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," Deaton tried to smile off.

But Stiles narrowed his eyes. "You know, that round a bout talk may work on Scott but on me, not so much."

* * *

Lydia was drawing a picture of a tree in her notebook solemnly until Danny moved in on her and took a look at it.

"Wow," he said with a smile. "That's like, really good."

But Lydia stayed indifferent to his compliment. "I know right," she said as she kept drawing.

"You should be in art class," Danny said.

Lydia shrugged. "Maybe."

"Since you're now in Music." Lydia then looked up and realized that she was in Music class. She couldn't even recall any lesson starting. That was probably because there was no teacher there.

"Fifteen minutes," someone called.

"What?" asked Lydia as everyone started to get up and move to leave. "What's going on?"

"Fifteen minute rule," Danny said as he moved to get up himself. "Teacher didn't show up."

Lydia suddenly got a funny feeling. As everyone left, she got up and moved for the piano in the front of the classroom where she noticed a phone with a sound file ready. She then played it and heard that it was a piano tutorial. It seemed normal until she scrolled to the end and there was a hard tone at the end before it went silent. She could faintly hear something though and moved in to hear what sounded like…chanting. She then let out a scream.

* * *

Deaton tried to step over into his work station in the back and Stiles followed after him.

"I've been looking online and all these symbols, from the triskeles to the bank logo, as well as the mountain ash, all of it dates back to the Celtic Druids. And they were all things that I've seen before." Stiles then looked down to the powder rack that Deaton already had out. Their labels and lids marked with those symbols. "And anyone who has ever looked up human sacrifices before knows that the druids had a pretty big hard-on when it came to giving one up to the gods. Ever hear of The Lindow Man?" he asked Deaton who was calmly staring him down from the other end of the table. "Two thousand year old body of a man they found in England. He was found with his head bashed in, throat cut, and strangled to death. Three fold death. They also found pollen grains in his stomach. Guess what favorite druid plant that was?"

Deaton then moved to one of his jars and pulled out a small flower. "Mistletoe," he said as he sternly looked at it.

Stiles looked from the plant to him as the familiar scent from before filled his nostrils and his inner anger grew. "I'm just telling you everything you already know, aren't I? Just like you knew that Scott and I were werewolves, you knew about the Hales and Argents, you knew how to help us with the Kanima using the mountain ash and you knew I was poisoned by mistletoe but chose not to say anything that night and kept quiet about it until Scott finally brought it up to you as another kid was killed. Just what the hell is going on?"

"Stiles," Deaton started holding up his hand.

Stiles slammed a fist on the top of the table cutting him off. "No. No more excuses and trying to avoid the question. Okay, now I know that Scott is just as anxious for answers but he doesn't want to make things awkward between you two. But four people are now dead, one of them a friend I've known since we were in diapers, sacrificed like lambs. All on top of 5 Alphas that seem to want to tear us to shreds. I'm far passed the point of caring about awkwardness. Now Scott told me about what you said about the mistletoe, but I didn't tell him about what I noticed here that night with Isaac. The lights, how they flickered. It was the same kind of flickering that I saw when I tried to chase the guy who took my friend Heather that night just before I lost her scent when I got hit with a gust of wind that I'm sure was loaded with mistletoe. Now I know that werewolves have many abilities but I don't think shorting out electric lights is one of them. That tells me that either A) You're behind this or B) You know what is. I want some real answers and I'm not going to leave here without them."

Deaton eyed Stiles as calmly as he could and noticed the look in the youth's eyes. They were almost bestial even if they weren't glowing at the moment. His whole stance was like that of an animal waiting to pounce. Even as he was staring him down heatedly, Deaton found himself in awe as his theories about this young man were starting to get stronger. Despite that the boy's stern gaze made him deflate and he found himself nodding. "Okay," he said to him. "You're right. I do know more than I've been sharing."

Stiles let a small breath out and he loosened his glare and his stance. "What?" he asked with his tone still a bit hard. "And why aren't you telling us?"

Deaton broke his gaze and looked down. "Maybe because when you spent every moment of the last ten years trying to push something away…denying it, lying about it, becomes a pretty powerful habit."

Stiles found himself deflating himself as he could sense Deaton's sadness and shame. But he couldn't let himself be lost in empathy for the guy. Not before he found out what he needed to. "Alright," he forced out. "So this guy, is he a druid?"

Deaton took a deep breath and shook his head. "No. It's someone copying a centuries old practice of a people that should've known better. Do you know what the word Druid means in Gaelic?"

"No," Stiles answered softly.

"Wise Oak. The Celtic Druids were close to nature. They believed they kept it in balance. They were philosophers and scholars. They weren't serial killers."

"Yeah, well this one is." Stiles heard Deaton's heartbeat during that whole exchange and it was beating quite steady. But then again, he noticed that Deaton was still speaking a bit vaguely to him. He was about to ask a more direct question when he felt his phone vibrate from his pocket. He huffed as he reached and yanked it out to see that Lydia was calling him. "Yeah, look I can't talk right now." But Stiles froze when Lydia started to talk back with a slightly cracked tone. Even more chilling was what she was telling him. "Wait, what? Are you sure he's missing?"

"Not just missing," Lydia said as she lowered the covering for the piano keys and saw a bloody handprint on it. "Taken."

Stiles headed back to school but brought Deaton with him to try to find out who it was that was taking these people. Lydia met them in the Music Room and showed them the recording she found. The sound was turned up and they heard the chanting being said.

"Can we get a copy of this?" Deaton asked her.

Lydia moved to send a copy of the file to each of their phones while Stiles was searching the teacher's desk.

"Uh doc," Stiles called out while he was digging through the desk drawers. "I believe back at the clinic you were about to tell me what it is we're supposed to be looking for. So mind helping out because anything would be, you know, helpful."

"Each grouping of three would have its own purpose," he began to explain. "It's own type of power. Virgins. Healers, Philosophers. Warriors."

"What, wait, wait," Stiles cut in. "Warriors? Could that also mean like a soldier?"

"Absolutely."

Stiles then held up a wedding photo from the drawer that showed the teacher with his wife in a military outfit. "Kyle, he was in ROTC with Boyd."

Deaton nodded. "That's got to be it. That's the pattern? Where's Boyd?"

"He's probably home by now," Stiles said as he went for his phone. "I'll try to get him on the phone."

But Lydia was staring off but she wasn't in space. She was in thought. Something that Deaton quickly noticed.

"Lydia?" he said to her. "Something wrong?"

"No," she said looking at him. "I was just, I mean…I just thought of someone else that had a military connection."

Stiles put his phone down. "Who?"

At the other side of the school, Mr. Harris was in his room grading some papers. He then felt a breeze and he started to faintly hear some chanting.

* * *

Scott and Isaac were preparing to leave the all but empty school in high spirits.

"You know," Isaac smirked. "I wish I could've seen their faces. Bet they were seriously pissed."

"Yeah," Scott laughed. "They were." But they froze when they saw both Ethan and Aiden standing on the other end of the hall. "Kind of like that," he muttered when he caught their glares.

The twins spared each other a look before they started to strip themselves of their shirts. Scott and Isaac wondered briefly what they were doing as Ethan went and kneeled down. Aiden then thrust his arm into his brother's back but there was a faint glow and the two of them started to mold or melt together until they formed one giant, hulking Alpha werewolf.

Isaac threw his bag to the side. "We can take him," he said as he rolled his sleeves up.

The fused twins roared and Scott gasped. "Are you kidding? Run!"

The two of them broke into a hard run but the Alpha quickly caught up to them and grabbed them by the backs of their necks and easily lifted them off the ground. He slammed them into each other before throwing them off down the hall. Scott and Isaac looked up from the floor but found themselves unable to get back up. They were too paralyzed by the sight of this powerhouse werewolf staring them down and roaring at them.

But then there was a soft tapping as a blind man with a walking stick moved in closer. At the sight of him, the giant Alpha seemed to calm itself down and soon both Ethan and Aiden were standing there side by side and were bowing their heads. Scott realized that this was Deucalion. The blind man that he saw at the hospital and the man with the dark glasses that Stiles told him about was the leader of the Alpha Pack, judging from how the twins were scared of him. Deucalion then went and removed the bottom of his walking stick to reveal a silver pointed end and then ran it across each of the twins' cheeks. He then replaced it and walked off. The twins spared them a glare before quickly following after him.

"Who the hell is that?" Isaac gasped out.

"Deucalion," Scott answered with a whisper.

* * *

Stiles, Lydia and Deaton came to the chemistry classroom and saw no sign of Harris anywhere.

"This is one of many possibilities," Deaton said as he put down a military themed plaque he picked up from the desk. "He could've just left for the day."

But Stiles bent down and picked up Harris' briefcase. "Not without this." Stiles then started to keep looking through the things on the desk before he stilled as he picked up an exam paper.

"What?" Deaton asked.

"This test is graded R," he said showing the paper that had an R written in red on the top right corner.

Lydia picked one up too. "This one's an H."

Deaton took both of them before looking at the rest of the tests and began to arrange them. There were seven of them, all with different letters and when he was finished he tensed and looked up. "Stiles, do you remember me telling you that Druid was the Gaelic word for Wise Oak?"

"Yeah," Stiles nodded.

"If a druid went down the wrong path, the wise oak was sometimes said to have become a dark oak. There's a Gaelic word for that as well. Darach." He then moved away to show that the tests were arranged to spell that word.

* * *

Deucalion moved off to stand in between both Kali and Ennis as they overlooked the school.

Kali audibly sucked on her teeth. "They lost control over those ridiculous contraptions of theirs?" she sneered. "Pathetic."

"Boys will be boys," Deucalion shrugged. "They're young Kali. As talented as the twins are they are still prone to youthful tendencies."

"Hey Duke, are you sure about this McCall kid?" Ennis muttered out. "If he's as special as you say he is then I thought he would be a lot better than this but the twins and I took care of him of no problem."

"He is still a work in progress," Deucalion admitted half-heartedly. "But, given the proper time, he would become something far more formidable and impressive. But, despite that, it's his friend Stilinski that is the real prize." As if on cue, they witnessed Stiles moving out of the school with Lydia and Deaton and the three of them seemed to be talking quite grimly with each other. "He is already on the trail of our rising contender in this humble town."

Kali narrowed his eyes at the boy before looking over at Deucalion. "And you really think that this kid is the one? He hardly seems anything special."

"And I thought I was supposed to be the blind one here," jested the Alpha. "Don't forget that this boy disabled over a handful of experienced hunters allied to the Argent family, as well as fought against a Kanima single-handedly. Not to mention the other tid-bit of news that Marin reported to us about the boy. He's the one."

"Then why did you go to Hale and demand that he kill him?" she asked.

But Deucalion smiled. "Oh, I'm confident that that won't happen. Even if Derek does actually try in an effort to save his sister and pack, he won't succeed. Not with McCall at Stilinski's side. But, the imminent threat of a possible betrayal may be what is needed to finally unleash his fury. As I said, boys are prone to youthful tendencies." He then tightened his grip on his cane. "And when he fully taps into it, that's when I'll strike."

* * *

The weather turned sour and it was now pouring rain. Derek was watching it from the windows of his loft as he was telling Isaac that he had to leave. Isaac was shocked to say the least.

"I don't get it," Isaac said to Derek who was still staring out the window. "Did something happen?"

Derek finally looked down. "It's just not going to work with both of you here. I've got Cora now, it's too much. But I need you out tonight."

The girl in question was over at the side, hidden from view as she listened in on them. Derek was trying to force Isaac to stay away for his own safety. Derek wasn't going to do what Deucalion wanted and try and kill Stiles so they knew that they would be coming for them. They already knew where they were and if Isaac stayed here Derek felt that he would be an easy target for them.

But Isaac remained unaware of that. "Where am I supposed to go?" he asked incredulously.

"Somewhere else," Derek said.

Isaac deflated. "Did I do something wrong Derek?"

Derek could see that Isaac wasn't going to make this easy so he tried to put more force behind this and turned around to glare at him. "You're doing something wrong by not leaving. Now, get out," he said more harshly.

"Please," Isaac tried.

But Derek kept his glare. "Get out."

Isaac shook his head. "Come on."

But Derek snapped and grabbed a glass cup and threw it at the pillar next to him. "Go!"

Isaac had ducked his head when that thing shattered next to him and he froze as he looked down at the broken pieces. He then sent a glare Derek's way before he went and grabbed his bag and then took off. When he did, Derek slumped over his table and felt terrible for having to resort to doing that.

* * *

Scott was in his room doing his homework, occasionally looking out the window at the raging storm outside. He was then snapped out of that routine when there was a knock on his door.

"Come in mom," he said.

The door then opened but Scott saw that it wasn't his mother but Isaac. He was soaking wet and he seemed sad.

"Uh…I was wondering, if I could ask you a favor," Isaac said to him.

* * *

The Sheriff was wandering the hall of his house and stopped just before his son's room. The door was open a tab and he peeked inside to see Stiles was sticking some papers to the wall. They were notes of some kind but the Sheriff could make out odd symbols on some of them. He also saw that there were photos of the four recent murder victims. The first three of them were in a triangle and the latest one was in a separate one with two more people. Stiles' face was narrowed in concentration as he looked at them all.

The Sheriff then took off for his own room and reached for his key to open his closet where the wall had notes and had arrows and strings connecting them to photos. Photos of the Argents, past animal attack victims, Matt Daehler and Derek Hale were scattered about. At the top of this wall was a photo of his son with Scott. He then went and placed a red string to the photo of the two boys and connected them to a new picture he was sticking on. One of Scott's mother. After today it was clear that Melissa knew what was going on with their boys. And from what he heard of their conversation, it was clear that, thankfully, they had no hand in it, but they were, without a doubt, somehow involved.

* * *

In the woods, Mr. Harris was tied to a tree and was completely drenched from the pouring rain. Water was pouring out of his cheeks as he was crying in terror and desperately trying to free himself from his bonds.

"Please," he cried. "Don't do this!" He then started to cough a bit due to the line wrapped around his neck. "I did what you asked. I did everything. They'll figure this out and they'll find you, you still need me!" he desperately cried.

But his captor went and twisted the garrote and Harris gasped as his air was cut off. His head then slumped down.


	9. Frayed

Chapter 9: Frayed

The school bus drove on the desert road with Coach Finstock looking out at the passing scenery with a glum look before he turned back and quickly blew his whistle.

"Back to your seat," he said to the student that was standing to look at the scenery too.

Boyd was sitting with Isaac around the middle of the bus. Boyd was looking off at nothing in particular but there was focus in his eyes. Focus that Isaac noticed.

"Stop thinking about it, man," Isaac said to him lightly.

Boyd gave him a side look. "Oh, like you're not thinking about it too?"

That made Isaac shrug. "Yeah, well, we'll both stop thinking about it."

"I can't," argued Boyd.

"Yeah? Well, there's nothing you can do about it either."

"You sure about that?" Boyd pressed him before he took a look over at Ethan who was sitting with Danny a few seats away.

Ethan spared the two betas a look before he looked down at his phone.

"You alright man?" Danny asked him out of nowhere.

"Yeah? Why?" Ethan asked.

"Because you've checked your phone three times in the last five minutes."

"Waiting for a message," Ethan smiled a little flirtatiously at him.

Danny mirrored his smile back at him. "Anything important?"

"No." That made Danny look away from him and Ethan's smile dropped a bit. "Nothing," he added a little glumly. He then went to spare Scott and Stiles a look.

They were sitting over at the back of the bus together. Scott was absentmindedly staring out the window while Stiles was scrolling down the screen of his tablet. Scott's mind was lost in the memories of the previous night.

"Yo Scotty. Hey, yo Scotty?" Stiles said before snapping his fingers at him to bring him out of his daze. "You still with me?"

Scott rubbed at his eyes. "Yeah, sorry. Uh, what's the word?" he quickly asked.

"Anachronism," Stiles read out to help Scott with his resolution to be a better student which he was determined to still follow.

Scott sighed. "Something that exists out of its normal time."

Stiles nodded. "Nice. Okay, next word. Incongruous."

"Uh…can you use it in a sentence?" Scott asked as he was drawing a blank.

"Yes, yes I can. It's completely incongruous that we're sitting on a bus right now on our way to some stupid cross-country meet after what just happened. Incongruous," Stiles finished.

"Out of place," Scott answered. "Ridiculous, absurd."

Stiles nodded again. "Perfect. Okay, next word, um…Darach." Scott went to give him a look. "Darach, it's a noun." Stiles finally turned to see the look Scott was giving him and he turned away. Stiles rolled his eyes. "We have to talk about it sometime, okay? And we are going to be stuck in this thing for like five hours, so why not?" Scott just sighed and moved to rest his head against the glass window. Stiles gave up. "Next word, Intransigent," he said going back to the list.

"Stubborn, obstinate," Scott answered. But then the bus suddenly hit a bump and Scott painfully flinched.

"Whoa," Stiles said as he noticed that Scott was reaching for where he was wounded. "Buddy, you okay?" Scott just grit his teeth in pain and Stiles started to shake his head. "We shouldn't have come. I knew it, we shouldn't have come."

"We had to," Scott argued. "There's safety in numbers."

"Yeah, well there's also death in numbers Scott. It's called a massacre. Bloodbath, carnage, slaughter, butchery," he said listing its synonyms off the top of his head. "Wow, that's," But a pained whimper from Scott made his stop and put the tablet down. "All right. Scott, I'm going over to Coach and telling that we need to stop."

Scott grabbed Stiles before he could. Stiles grit his teeth and the two of them looked down to see that Stiles was taking Scott's pain, a lot of it. Scott then quickly let go.

Stiles gave him a look but Scott shook his head. "I'm alright. I'm fine."

"Scott, you didn't feel fine. You're in pain, a lot. I felt it. Let me see it," he said moving for Scott's shirt.

Scott went and pushed his hand away. "I said I'm fine."

"If you're fine then you'll let me see it," he said giving Scott a hard look.

Scott sighed and then nodded. "Okay," he conceded as he lifted his shirt.

"Oh dude." Stiles saw that the wound was still looking pretty bad. It looked like he had only just got it.

Scott put his shirt back down. "I know it's bad but it's because they're from an Alpha. It takes longer to heal."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Then why are Isaac, Boyd and I fine then?" He then looked over at the two betas on the far end of the bus and they seemed to be no worse for wear. Stiles was still a bit winded but all of his wounds had already healed by the time he made it to bed last night.

Scott just rested his head back on the window and gazed out in the distance with a sour look on his face. "I can't believe he's dead," he mumbled. "I can't believe Derek's dead."

* * *

Behind the bus was Allison driving after it with Lydia sitting right next to her.

"Am I getting too close?" Allison quickly asked but didn't wait for Lydia to answer. "I'm getting way too close, aren't I?"

Lydia shrugged. "That depends, are you just following the bus or are you planning on mounting it at some point?"

"Yeah, I should back off." Allison moved to reduce their speed a bit.

"Well that also depends. Do you mean the bus or the ex-boyfriend you're currently stalking?"

Allison narrowed her eyes. "Well, after what happened, I'm not letting him out of my sight."

"Hm," Lydia said in a tone that said that she wasn't buying that.

Allison quickly rose to defend herself. "And by the way, this all started when he came knocking at my door."

"For what?" Lydia asked.

Allison's mind flashed back to early yesterday morning.

 _Scott had come to Allison's apartment and when they were in her room, he whipped out one of her arrows. "I found it outside of the school right where Isaac got Boyd and Cora to turn back."_

 _She shrugged. "How do you know it's not from the archery team?"_

 _Scott gave her a look. "We don't have an archery team."_

" _Oh," she said remembering that they didn't._

" _And, even if we did, they probably wouldn't be using military grade armor-piercing titanium arrowheads," he said before giving it a flick with his finger, making a metallic ping. "I checked."_

" _Maybe it's one of my father's?" she tried._

" _I thought you guys had some kind of agreement where you both stay out of all this?"_

" _Is that why you came here?" she asked him a little defensively. "To tell me to stay out of this?"_

" _No," Scott said._

" _Okay." Allison then moved to leave her bed and started to gather her scattered clothes. "Thanks for the concern but I can take care of myself."_

" _I know, but Allison, if you didn't notice, these guys, they're pretty terrifying. Plus they have some serious advantages like superhuman strength."_

 _Allison gave him a side grin. "You're pretty strong, and I can handle you."_

 _Now Scott was grinning back at her. "Me?"_

" _You don't think I'd have a chance against you?" she asked still teasing him a bit._

" _I didn't say that."_

" _Maybe you didn't notice but I'm pretty good with a bow and arrow."_

" _Okay, well what if you didn't have it?" Scott countered. "I still have super strength," he said making a fist._

 _Allison eyed it for a second and looked back up at him. "I have skills and training."_

 _Scott then waved his hand at her. "I have claws."_

" _I'm smarter."_

 _Scott smiled wider at her. "Well, I'm faster."_

" _Prove it."_

 _The two of them just stared each other down for a moment before Allison then went to try and land a blow at Scott's head but he quickly brought his hand up and lightly but sternly caught her wrist. She tried to punch with the other hand but Scott caught it as well and then flipped them around. The two of them then started to lean in closer to one another. Their noses brushed up against each other and their lips moving ever more closely. Allison was eager to move in for a kiss like they used to share but when she looked up, she didn't see Scott's soft and smiling face. She saw Stiles' hard and glaring one. His words echoed in her head:_ Keep away from Scott _!_

" _No," she muttered. She broke away from him so suddenly that Scott didn't have enough time to loosen his grip on Allison's wrists. She was pulled back and Scott quickly let go._

" _What's wrong?" he gasped. But Allison didn't answer. She just held her wrist and looked away from him. Away from his soft face. Scott noticed how she was holding her wrist. "Let me see," he offered quickly._

" _No, it's fine. I'm okay," she nodded._

" _I'm sorry."_

" _Don't," Allison cut in quickly. "Don't apologize, please. You were right, I can't do this." Allison then moved off to be near her bed again._

" _I wasn't trying-"_

" _You made your point," she said to him. "Maybe you should go now."_

 _Scott watched as Allison went to sit down on the floor at the foot of her bed and seemed determined not to look at him right now. Scott wondered if he had done something wrong and thought that leaving was a good idea so he didn't do anything else. Before he left, he turned to face her just outside her door. "Allison, I think you should know the truth. The twins, they were just messing with us. I've seen the others. I'm not telling you this because I don't think you can't kick my ass if you wanted to, I'm telling you this because they scare the hell out of me. And they should scare you too." He then moved to close her door._

 _As he left, Allison spared a look at the sound of his retreating steps and then let a small sigh loose._

 _Scott went for the elevator downtrodden but he quickly noticed that he wasn't alone in there. Deucalion was standing beside him and the blind man moved to give him a smile._

" _Going down?" he asked Scott. But all that did was make Scott bring out his own claws but Deucalion didn't even flinch. "Come on Scott. I'd have to be blind, deaf, and quadriplegic for you to be an actual threat. Or maybe, you should take a chance?" He turned to fully face him. "Your heartbeat's steady. You might be afraid of me but you're controlling it. Maybe, you'd actually rise to the occasion? Become an Alpha by killing one."_

" _I'm not like you. I don't have to kill people."_

" _Hm, not yet," Deucalion shrugged. "But situations come about. Situations where you realize that the only way to protect one person is to kill another."_

" _You wanna threaten me? Is that why you're here?" Scott spat at him._

" _You? Who said I was threatening you?" Deucalion smiled at him. "I'm content with you just as you are, at least for the moment. And to answer your second question, no, I live here."_

 _Scott was taken aback and had to be sure that he heard that right. "What?"_

" _I live here," Deucalion repeated. "It's a great building. And the neighbors are surprisingly friendly."_

 _Scott bit back the new wave of fear that hit him on the fact that he lived so close to Allison. "What do you want?" he managed to ask._

" _Oh, I want many things. One of which is to see what you're made of. And to see myself to ascend to heights that few through history ever reach."_

" _What?" Scott wondered what the Alpha was talking about but the elevator reached the ground floor and the doors opened. People started coming in and Scott moved to leave._

" _Could someone hit the button for Penthouse?" the man asked the people in the elevator. His face stayed on Scott's as the door closed._

 _Scott quickly moved for the loft and found that Derek, Peter, Boyd and Cora were there looking over a table._

" _I know where they are," he said to them quickly but they didn't react the way he thought they would._

" _Same building as the Argents," Derek calmly said sparing him a look. "We know."_

" _Cora and I followed the twins," Boyd explained._

" _Then they want you to know," Scott realized._

" _Or more likely they don't care," Peter said._

 _Scott then moved to see what they were doing and noticed all the blueprints laid out. "What is this?"_

" _Isn't it obvious," Peter smirked at him. "The schemers are scheming. Coming up with a Coup de Main, better known as a pre-emptive strike."_

" _You're going after them?"_

" _Tomorrow," Derek said as he folded his arms. "And you're gonna help us."_

* * *

The Coach blew his whistle at some others on the bus. "The two of you, back in your seats." He then looked down at the kid in front of him. "Jared, again? Car sick? Every time, how do you even get on the bus?" Jared was starting to pale. "Look at me. No," he said quickly. "Don't look at me. Look at the horizon. Your eyes, keep your eyes on the horizon." Jared nodded at him. But then he saw the state Scott was in. "McCall, not you too?" he complained.

Scott rose his head up. "No Coach, I'm good," he tried to say in an upbeat tone.

But Stiles just narrowed his eyes at him and they widened when he looked at Scott's side. "Scott, you're bleeding again. You're not just taking longer to heal, you're not healing at all. Bleeding doesn't mean healing." He then raised the palm of his hand to him. "Give me your hand."

Scott shook his head. "No."

"Give me your hand Scott," he repeated more sternly

"You're still weak," Scott said.

"I'm strong enough for this," Stiles said as he went to try and grab Scott's wrist but he pulled it away from him.

"Stiles, stop," Scott hissed before he pointed over ahead of them. "He's listening."

Stiles then looked over and saw that Ethan had his head turned slightly and they could make out some focus in his eyes. "You think he's going to do something?"

"No," Scott said. "Not here. Not in front of this many people."

Stiles nodded before pointing on ahead. "What about the two ticking time bombs sitting right near him. I could practically taste the rage they're giving off."

But Scott shook his head. "No, they won't. Not here."

"And what if they do Scott? Are you gonna stop em?"

Scott gave him a look. "If I have to."

Stiles returned Scott's resolute look with a stern one.

* * *

" _So, you're not going to help?" Boyd asked Scott._

" _No, I'm not. This is crazy. And Stiles wouldn't either."_

 _Peter raised his eyebrows at him. "Interesting, seeing as how Derek called him an hour ago and he jumped at the chance."_

" _What?" he asked looking at Derek._

" _He's handling some last minute business right now but he said he would meet up with us later. I already briefed him on the plan." Scott's eyes widened. Derek then began to explain the plan over the blueprint of the apartment building. "They're one floor above them in the penthouse. Right above Allison," Derek stretched the last part thinking that would set Scott off._

 _But Scott wasn't losing himself. He stayed firmly behind his way. "So, kill them first? That's the plan?"_

" _They won't even see it coming," Boyd threw in._

" _Why is the default plan always murder?" Scott grunted out. "Just once, can someone try to come up with something that doesn't involve killing everyone?"_

 _Peter rolled his eyes. "You never get tired of being so blandly moral, do you?" But he then tilted his head towards his nephew. "Not that I disagree with him."_

" _I do," said Cora as she gave Scott a hard look. "Why do we need this kid?"_

" _This kid helped save your life," Derek defended him but he still turned to narrow his eyes at Scott. "And you know we can't just sit back and wait for them to make the first move." Derek knew that they couldn't just stand back. Deucalion made a threat and if he saw that Derek wasn't going to go through with it then he would start killing his pack one by one. Their only chance was to strike fast and hard._

" _You can't beat a pack of Alphas," Scott argued at him._

 _Cora looked at him. "That's why we're going after Deucalion. Just him."_

" _Cut off the head of the snake and the body dies," said Boyd._

" _Only this isn't a snake," Peter threw in. "It's a Hydra. And like Scott says, they're all Alphas."_

" _Deucalion is still the leader," Derek argued._

" _Let's hope so," Peter said to him. "Because you know what happened when Hercules cut off one of the heads of the Hydra?"_

" _Two more grew back in its place," said Scott._

 _Peter smiled at him. "Looks like someone did their summer reading."_

* * *

Lydia was reading her Physics book as Allison kept following after the bus. Something was nagging Lydia's mind though and she put it down and quickly noticed something wrong.

"So, is that whole 'not let them out of your sight' thing literal or more like a general rule?"

"Why?" Allison asked.

"You're running on fumes," she said as she looked at Allison's gas gauge.

Allison looked down and saw that the car was almost out of gas. "Uhg," she cried.

"Yeah," Lydia nodded. "And I'm pretty sure that bus holds a lot more gas than this Toyota."

"What if we stop?" Allison put out there.

"Is it really that big of a deal?" she asked incredulously. "So, we lose them. We know where they're headed."

Allison shook her head. "You didn't see what happened."

Lydia shrugged. "I know who started it."

Allison then narrowed her eyes. "Is that what Aiden told you?"

"Aiden?" Lydia said giving her a disbelieving look. "Whoa, whoa, hold on a second. Is that why you invited me on this whole little road trip thing?" Allison just kept staring ahead and Lydia was now getting annoyed. "Oh my gosh. You're keeping an eye on them and me," she accused her.

"So, there's nothing going on between you two?" Allison asked her coldly.

"I'm appalled by the insinuation," Lydia gasped.

Allison leaned in. "Nothing?"

"Nothing,' said Lydia.

But her mind went to early yesterday when she was with Aiden last.

 _They had gone into Coach's office and were passionately making out with one another at his desk. But Lydia broke her lips free of him._

" _What do you think you're doing?" she whispered._

" _What do you mean?" he asked quickly._

" _I mean your hands."_

 _Aiden looked at them. "They're on your waist."_

" _I know." Aiden then backed away a bit. "What am I, a nun?" Lydia then spat at him. She then grabbed his neck to pull him closer. "Put them somewhere useful."_

 _Aiden then moved his hands to lift Lydia up into the air. "Is that better?"_

" _Moderately," Lydia shrugged before they resumed to make out._

At the memory of that Lydia went to apply a new coat of lip gloss to accusing watch of Allison.

"What?" she asked

* * *

The bus then went and hit a major traffic jam and stopped abruptly making Scott moan in pain given to him by the shocks. The jam seemed to go as far as the eye could see.

"There's a jackknifed tractor a few miles ahead," Isaac read off his phone. "Could miss the meet." But his face then fell. "Boyd?" Boyd was now breathing a little faster than normal and there was a light growling escaping his throat. His eyes also started to glow slightly as he started to turn towards Ethan's direction.

Scott quickly noticed and moved to get up but Stiles tried to hold him down. "Scott, where are you going?"

"Boyd, he's going to do something. Look at his hands," he said as he pointed out the claws that Boyd was now sporting at the end. Scott then moved Stiles out of the way and forced himself to go forward on the bus until he came to Boyd's side. He went and grabbed his hand with a steel grip.

"Let go," Boyd hissed at him before looking back over at Ethan.

"You got a plan?" Scott asked him. "Tell me your brilliant plan and I'll let go. What are you going to do? Kill him, right here? And then what? What are you gonna do after that?"

Boyd narrowed his eyes and looked right into Scott's. "I don't care," he said.

He then moved to try and get out of the seat but both Scott and Isaac held him down. Stiles rose up from his chair a bit, showing he was ready to jump in himself if he had to.

"Well, I do," Scott said to him as he held him down.

But Isaac's eyes fell on Scott's side. To the spots of blood. "Whoa, are you still hurt?"

"I'm fine," he said in a mirrored tone that he had used with Stiles. He then focused back on Boyd. "Give me a chance to figure something out. Something that doesn't have to end with someone else dying."

Boyd let out a frustrated breath but he settled down. "Okay."

Scott then moved to head back to his seat where Stiles was calmly waiting for him.

"Crisis averted?" he asked as soon as Scott got there.

"Mm-hmm," Scott nodded as he went to sit down.

"Okay, good because we got another problem. Ethan, he keeps checking his phone, like every five minutes. Every time he does, he gives off a bit of anxiousness for like a split second. It's like he's waiting for something. A message or signal of some kind. Something evil though, I can tell. I have a very perceptive eye for evil, you know that."

Scott narrowed his eyes over at Ethan. "I don't like him sitting with Danny."

"Yeah, neither do I," said Stiles. Stiles then whipped out his phone. "Let's see what he's waiting for?"

"What are you doing?" Scott whispered.

"I'm gonna ask," he said like it was obvious. But he would do it in a way that Ethan wouldn't be able to tell.

Stiles sent a text to Danny and he quickly whipped out his phone to see that Stiles was asking to see what Ethan was checking his phone for. Danny moved to look at Stiles and shook his head and went to put his phone away. Before he could, Stiles sent another message for Danny to just do it. Danny texted back no. Stiles tried again. Danny refused again by texting that he liked Ethan and wouldn't do it. Stiles grit his teeth and texted for him to just do it again. But Danny put his phone away and didn't bother to respond. Stiles saw that Danny wanted to be difficult so he would be difficult right back. He texted DO IT and sent the text numerous times. Danny's phone kept beeping to alert him to Stiles' texts but he ignored it. But it didn't stop and Ethan was starting to give him a look.

"Something wrong?" Ethan finally asked.

Danny sighed and caved hoping to stop Stiles hounding him. "Actually…I was wondering the same thing about you."

They got to talking and Scott and Stiles quickly tried to zero in their ears to hear what they were saying but Danny and Ethan turned to look at them. The both of them then quickly ducked their heads to be out of sight and out of mind.

"Well, that wasn't very subtle," Stiles let out.

Stiles then got a return text from Danny saying that someone close to him was sick and might not make it through the night.

"Ennis," Scott muttered.

"But, that would have to mean-"

"He's not dead," Scott said finishing Stiles train of thought.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Not yet. And if he doesn't make it…then there's going to be hell to pay. As if there isn't any already after what Deucalion tried to pull."

Scott could see where Stiles was trying to take this. "Stiles, no."

Stiles just huffed and shook his head in annoyance. He thought, after last night, Scott's tune would start to change but he was still relying on wishful thinking.

* * *

 _Stiles was in the animal clinic looking over some papers with Deaton that had a few Celtic runes and symbols scattered about._

" _There would be three sacrifices to a grouping and there would be five groupings in all," Deaton explained to him._

 _Stiles looked up at him. "Five? I thought that ancient people loved things in threes. Three groups of three."_

 _Deaton gave him a soft smile. "Not quite. Three may be the number for magic and divinity, but five is the number of completion and balance. The five groups will be meant to harmonize and stabilize the power that the Darach would be trying to amass."_

" _So you're saying that nine more people are going to die?!" Stiles huffed out._

" _Not if we can somehow find and stop the Darach." Deaton then took a piece of paper and drew what looked like five circles blended together in an odd shape. "This is the Five Fold Knot. In each one of these knots is a separate power and they are all linked together for a single purpose."_

" _Okay, so first there was virgins," Stiles started as he wrote the word in one of the knots._

" _For their purity and innocence. That energy would increase the Darach's inner power."_

" _Then next was warriors." Stiles then wrote the word in another knot._

" _For their fighting strength. To increase his own strength."_

 _Stiles nodded. "What about the other three?"_

 _Deaton shook his head. "I'm afraid that I can only guess."_

" _Well, guess then," Stiles shouted out. But he went and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm just…frustrated, with all of this."_

 _Deaton just stared back at him softly. "It's understandable Stiles. You want to protect people and you're feeling powerless right now but I think you're being too hard on yourself."_

" _Yeah well I think I'm being too easy on myself. Six people are dead because a deranged dark druid is running around and more are on the way. And then there's the Alpha Pack. They've already killed two people that we know about and we still don't know what they even want." Stiles gripped the end of the metal table tightly. "The only way that they're all going to stop is to find them and make them stop."_

" _You mean kill them," Deaton said sternly._

 _Stiles just glared at the table. "I don't think they're leaving us much choice. Scott, I know he thinks that there's always a way that doesn't involve killing but he can't see that in times like this, there isn't."_

" _Scott might just feel that people who try to quickly resolve the problem by killing are only looking for the easy solution."_

 _Stiles shook his head. "Well, I know it's anything but easy. My dad, he told me that as a cop he has come across many dangerous people. He tries hard to not let it come down to killing them in order to stop them-"_

" _But he's always prepared to do so if it came down to that," Deaton finished for him and Stiles silently nodded. "And you are trying to be the same? You may have shown extreme levels of aggression on those that have threatened your life and those around you, but you've never had to kill to stop any of them before."_

 _Stiles nodded again. "Yeah, but that was different. Those hunters I attacked never actually killed anybody, at least that I knew of. And I didn't really stop them. Gerard went and killed them all before we could see if it worked or not. This isn't the same as before. The Darach and the Alpha Pack…they have all killed and they don't look like they're going to stop any time soon."_

 _Deaton noticed how Stiles was gripping the table and the look in the boy's eyes. "Then, are you prepared to kill, if that's what it takes to protect the ones that you care about and other innocent people?"_

 _The boy was silent for a moment as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he nodded_. " _Yeah, I am," Stiles mumbled slowly as he raised his head to look straight at Deaton. "Are you gonna say that I shouldn't? That Scott's right and I'm wrong?"_

" _No," he answered. "I'm not saying that Scott is wrong or right in this or that you are wrong or right. Often at times, people find themselves in situations where there is no clear right or wrong answer. This is one of those times. Here, maybe you both are right. All I can tell you Stiles is to follow what your instincts are telling you. If you do have to kill, make sure it's because you truly believe its the right thing to do, and not just what you want to do."_

* * *

Cora at the site, looking around, when she heard a sudden noise and rose to defend herself. She glared when she saw who it was.

"It's just me, your uncle. Uncle Peter," the man said as he started to analyzed the place himself.

"Uncle Peter who killed sister Laura," she said back at him.

"Mm, not my finest hour, no," he admitted half-heartedly. "But I'm hardly the only dysfunctional family member. Did Derek mention that he killed me too? Slashed my throat ear to ear."

Cora moved up the stairs to be level with him. "So that means I should trust you?"

Peter was looking down at her with narrowed eyes. "Actually, I'm wondering if I can trust you."

"You've known me for 17 years."

"I knew you for 11," he corrected. "Leaving the last 6 unaccounted for. And I'm not particularly fond of things unaccounted."

"So is that why you weren't with us, because I would say that all that was unaccounted then was your presence. Funny enough, both Derek and Stiles didn't seem to be too surprised on that. In fact, Stiles said that he was counting on you staying behind. So, again, why should I trust you?"

"Because I'm here for the same reason as you," her uncle argued. "To find out where the bodies went. To see if they were carried away, or if one of them managed to gather enough strength to push up off the floor and walk out. Leaving us both standing here to answer the all-important question."

"Which one?" said Cora.

* * *

 _Scott went to Deaton after he left the loft after hearing their plans. He was so lost and he couldn't think of anyone else to go to about this._

" _I don't know what else to do. Do I keep trying to get them to listen to me? Do I tell Derek he's going to get someone killed? Not even Stiles will listen to me on this…and I'm scared. They all think that they should kill each other before the other side does it. How do you even save someone who doesn't want to be saved? How do I stop them?"_

 _Deaton saw that Scott was standing the exact same way that Stiles had been only a few hours ago, in the exact same spot. "Don't stop them," Deaton answered him. "Lead them."_

* * *

Deaton was hanging an x-ray of an animal's paw to analyze when the doorbell rang. "It's open!" he called out. He then went to see who it was and came upon his sister Marin standing in front of Aiden and Kali as they were supporting Ennis who looked very worse for wear.

"We could use a little help," Marin said.

"Try the hospital," Deaton said indifferently.

"Open the gate, Alan," Marin said more forcefully as she narrowed her eyes at him.

Deaton narrowed his eyes at her. "No."

Kali then moved to step to Marin's side. "Help us," she spat showing her red eyes and fangs. "Or…maybe I just kill her," she said flipping Marin's hair back.

"Not here you won't," Deaton pointed out. "I suggest you leave. Don't make me insist."

Marin moved to try again. "Alan, if he dies, they'll go after the others. And don't think your little protégé Scott won't find himself in the middle of it. They'll kill him."

"Last I checked, they already tried to kill him," said Deaton not moving at all. "And Scott will find himself in the middle of this anyway with what I know Deucalion wants to do to both him and Stiles. Least I could do is give them less to deal with."

"How about this Doc?" Kali growled. "Your little assistant and his friend aren't in town right now. Some track meet, right? And while we may not be able to do anything here, their homes are another story. So let us in or I will let myself in over there. It would be a shame if they both had to come home from their school trip and find their parents' bloody corpses greeting them as soon as they walk in through their front doors." The red of her eyes glowed brighter when she finished.

Deaton eyed Kali sternly before his gaze went to Marin. She barely managed a nod to tell him that Kali would indeed act on that threat. He stared them all down before he went and pushed the wooden gate open.


	10. Frayed part 2

Chapter 10: Frayed part 2

The traffic jam wasn't budging in the least and the bus was stuck in a sea of cars on the highway. Tensions in the bus were rising and not just with the werewolves inside. Coach's was as he was baring down on Jared who was looking more pale and sick even if the bus wasn't really moving.

"Jared, I'm warning you. I'm an empathetic vomiter. You throw up, I'm gonna throw up right back on you and it will be profoundly disgusting," he warned.

Jared cringed. "Please don't talk about throwing up. It's not good."

"I might throw up on you just to make a point Jared."

"It's not good," Jared blurted out painfully. "It's not good."

The Coach then turned to the rest of the people on the bus. "The rest of you, don't think we're gonna miss this meet because of a slight traffic jam, a minor tornado warning, Jared," he said giving the carsick kid another look. "We're gonna make this thing. Nothing is gonna stop us!" He then glared on ahead. "Stilinski, put your hand down!"

Stiles let his raised hand slide just a bit but he was still keeping it raised. "You know there's like a food exit about a half mile up. I don't know, if we stop and then maybe traffic-"

"We're not going to stop," Coach cut him off.

"Okay," Stiles huffed out. "But if we stop-

Coach then blew his whistle to cut him off. "Stilinski! Shut it! It's a little bus! Stop asking me questions!"

Stiles let his back hit his seat hard. "I hate him," he mumbled before looking back at Scott. His left hand was holding on to Scott's wrist as his veins were running black as he was steadily pulling pain from Scott. "Still not feeling better?"

Scott just shook his head. "No." He then moved to remove Stiles' hand from him. "Enough. We don't need you being hurt too."

Stiles went and took a look at Scott's side. There hadn't appeared to be any change. "Did you call Deaton?" he asked Scott.

Scott's head was bobbing a bit now and he was starting to sweat a bit heavily now that Stiles wasn't siphoning off his pain. "I keep getting his voicemail," he managed to breathe out.

Stiles let a hard puff out through his nose. "I'm now officially out of options. I'm calling Lydia and Allison."

Scott looked over at him. "How are they going to help? They're back in Beacon Hills."

Stiles shook his head. "No, they're not, they're a few cars behind us. They've been following us for hours. I've been hearing them on and off since we left the school. Talking about how to look like they're not following us." Scott then took a look to see if he could spot Allison's car and Stiles then blew at his hair. "It's pathetic."

Over in Allison's car, Lydia saw she was getting a phone call and checked to see that it was Stiles calling her. "Hey Stiles," she said giving Allison a look as she then looked away a bit. "Yeah, we're just about to walk into a movie. You know, the popcorn and-"

"Yeah, I know you guys are right behind us," Stiles spat out. "Just put me on speaker." Lydia sighed but put her phone to speaker. His voice then filled the car. "Okay, look Scott's still hurt."

Allison was thrown for a loop at that. "What do you mean still? He's not healing?"

"No, he isn't healing. I think he's actually getting worse. His blood turning black. I've been trying to help and take his pain away but it looks like all its doing is just slowing it down."

"Well, then what's wrong with him?" asked Lydia.

"What's wrong with him? Do I have a PHD in lycanthropy? How am I supposed to know?"

Allison rubbed at her forehead. "We need to get him off the bus."

"And take him where?" Lydia asked her. "A hospital?"

"If he's dying, yeah," she spat out. "Stiles, there's a rest area about a mile up. Tell the coach to pull over."

"Wow, good idea," he began sarcastically with her. "I wonder why I didn't try that, oh wait, I did. More than once."

"Well, reason with him," she spat at him.

"Reason? Have you _met_ this guy?" he spat back at her.

Allison glared at the phone. "Just try something."

Stiles hung up his phone and grit his teeth.

"Coach, its five minutes for a bathroom break, okay?" Stiles had bitten the bullet and was trying, again, to get Coach to stop. "We've been on this thing for like, what, three hours?" But Coach blew the whistle at him. Stiles let his head lean back a bit before he pushed again. "It's 60 miles to the next rest stop and after-" But Coach blew the whistle at him again. Stiles was feeling his head start to heat up now. "Being cooped up for hours is not good," he started again, louder at Coach who only blew his whistle again. "You know, our bladders aren't exactly-" Another whistle and Stiles left hand started to dig into the back of the seat it was leaning on. "Coach." But the whistle kept blowing and soon started to be blown right into his face every time he tried to get a word out. Stiles felt the claws in his hand extend and start to dig into the seat. "Let me talk!" His rage was increasing and quickly took his clawed hand and dug it into his leg to try and keep himself from shifting at the Coach who was still blowing the whistle at him.

"Get back to your seat Stilinski!" Coach spat out.

"Okay!" Stiles roared at him before he turned and shut his eyes hard to block out the wave of heat he was feeling rushing to his head.

"Jared," he heard Coach shout as he was slowly heading back. "Keep your eyes on the horizon."

Stiles then smelled the scent of Jared's nauseousness bubbling just beneath the surface. It was like a dam just milliseconds away from bursting. All it needed was a nudge before it would come spewing out and Stiles felt the heat in his head cool down as an idea set in. Stiles went over and threw himself next to the kid. "Hey Jared, how you doing?" he said to him before a small mischievous smile started to take hold.

As soon as they could, the bus pulled into the rest stop down the road and everyone on the bus started to pull out in a frenzy.

Coach sprayed some air freshener before popping the window open. "Jared, you suck! Hey, somebody grab some towels, or a mop. Or a new bus."

Stiles helped Scott off the bus and was soon joined by Allison who was running towards them. The two of them spared each other a tense look before they shook it off and went to pull Scott into the girls bathroom for some privacy. Scott was set against the wall by the sink and he was starting to cough a bit. Allison then pulled up his shirt and she, Stiles and Lydia saw that the wound was starting to fester and black lines were spreading out across his torso.

"Oh my god," Allison gasped. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Sorry," Scott mumbled at her.

"Just give us a second, okay?" She then went and pulled the other two aside. "This shouldn't be happening. I've seen him heal from worse than this."

"It doesn't make any sense," said Stiles. "All of us were wounded and we all have healed up already, but not Scott. I don't know why."

"Maybe…it could be psychological," said Lydia softly.

"What? You mean psychosomatic?" Stiles asked her.

"Somatoformic," she corrected. Stiles narrowed his eyes so she explained further. "A physical illness from a psychogenic cause."

"So, all in his head?"

"Yes," she sighed. "it's all in his head."

He nodded. "All in his head…because of Derek. He's not letting himself heal cause he thinks Derek died."

"He did," Scott mumbled painfully on the floor. "And it's my fault."

Stiles went to kneel down at him. "Scott, come on buddy. Look at me. You can't believe that. Deep down, I know you really don't. I don't. It wasn't your fault. You didn't make Derek fall, it was just something that happened. And besides, Derek isn't dead. He can't be gotten rid of that easily, remember?" he said trying to smile and laugh about it. "We've been down this road once before. Derek came back to us from worse than a bad fall, remember?" he said trying to cheer Scott up. But Scott just laid there in the same pained condition and Stiles huffed as he stood back up.

"What are we going to do?" Allison asked out loud.

Lydia then went and pulled out some gauze from her bag. "Stitch him up." Stiles and Allison gave her a look. "I'm serious. Maybe all he needs to do is just believe it's healing."

"You mean like, give him a placebo?" Stiles asked her.

Lydia nodded. If it was all in his mind, and it wasn't allowing him to heal then they could use that to make his mind think the opposite and force it to heal Scott. At this point, they were willing to try anything. Allison moved to prepare all the first aid supplies they had with them while Stiles started to clean Scott's wound.

"He's going to need another shirt," Allison said to him. "Where's his bag?"

"On the bus. I'll get it," Stiles said moving for the door but stopped suddenly. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"Yeah, my father taught me."

"Okay, but how fast are you? I mean, the bus, it could leave like any minute."

"Well, then make sure that it doesn't leave," she said sternly to him.

Lydia grabbed Stiles hand. "I can help, come on." She took Stiles out of the room before they could blow up into another argument which they didn't have time for.

Allison got the needle and thread set before she started to kneel at Scott's side. "Okay, stay with me," she whispered to him and then grabbed his chin. "Stay with me," she said at him as he slowly opened his eyes.

"I'm tired," he muttered.

But Allison tightened her hold on him. "Scott, look at me, okay?" she said a bit aggressively at him. "Just keep looking at me." She then went and began to try to thread the needle. "Come on. Come on," she chanted as she tried to thread it but it wasn't going through.

"Unbelievable. One simple little task?" Her mother was standing off to her side as she folded her arms at the sight of her. "You can't thread a needle?"

"I'm trying," she muttered.

"What? You want my sympathy? Because you're just a 17 year old little girl and this is all too much for you to handle?" she said mockingly before turning aggressive. "Get over it. Thread the needle."

Allison was trying but couldn't get the thread to go through the needle's loop. "My hands won't stop shaking."

She then felt her mother come closer to her. "Breathe Allison. Breathe." Allison stopped and took a deep breath. "Now, try it again." Allison tried again but still couldn't get it in and she was starting to lose it. "Okay, how do we approach a situation like this?" her mother asked her. But Allison started to cry. "Allison!" her mother shouted.

"Clinically," she spat out.

"And?" her mother asked.

"And unemotional…and unemotionally."

"Then stop crying, and do it," her mother spat.

Allison stopped and took a deep breathe again to calm her before she tried again and succeeded in threading the needle. She then moved to begin stitching Scott up. "Stay with me."

The rest stop was busy with activity from everyone until there was a loud whistle blown from the bus as Coach stepped out of it.

"Let's go! Back on the bus!" Coach shouted out to everyone.

Stiles and Lydia were off to the side and they gave each other a look. They were out of time.

Allison had finished stitching him up and then put the needle away.

"Scott?" she said to him. But he wasn't moving. Allison moved but noticed that he wasn't breathing and her eyes widened. "Scott?"

Scott's mind was far away. Back at the abandoned mall from last night. He was reaching out but couldn't stop Derek from falling with Ennis to the ground. He looked on at the sight of his body lying motionless on the ground below.

"Scott!" Allison shouted at him.

Scott gasped out and slowly regained himself. "It's my fault," he said immediately.

"Scott look at me," Allison said immediately. Scott moved to look her in the eye. "It's okay."

He looked down to see that his wound was now closed. "Did you do that?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Nice," he muttered jokingly at her.

Allison laughed but then moved to help him stand up. "Put this on," she said handing him his jacket.

* * *

 _Scott was in his room, getting ready to head out. He had sent Deucalion a message and arranged a meeting between the two of them. He said that he just wanted to talk. He was hoping that he could resolve whatever this was even about without having to let anyone else die. But before he could leave, he had been caught by Isaac who was standing outside his door. He had almost forgotten that he was staying with him now._

" _Where you going?" Isaac calmly asked him._

" _Uh…I was…going to go and get some food to eat," he tried to explain away._

 _Isaac nodded. "Cool, I'll come with you."_

" _It's okay. I can eat alone," he said trying to make Isaac stay away._

" _What are you getting?" he asked not budging._

" _Uh…Mexican?"_

 _Isaac's face lit up. "I love Mexican." He then moved to grab Scott's spare helmet._

 _Scott moved to stop him. "Isaac, I can eat alone. Okay?" His voice and face became tense and made it clear that he wasn't trying to talk about food anymore to him._

 _Isaac shook his head. "You're not going alone. Now, come on."_

* * *

 _Derek and Cora were waiting outside the loft together while Boyd was off to the side, on his phone. The two siblings were watching the road, in wait. They didn't have to wait long before Derek spotted the headlights of a familiar Jeep heading their way. Stiles went and pulled his Jeep in before he got out of his car._

" _Derek," he said before he moved his sight over to his sister. "Cora." Stiles couldn't help but think she kind of resembled her late sister Laura. He had to admit, she was kind of cute._

 _Derek looked over at the Jeep and noticed that it was now empty. "Scott's not with you?" he asked the kid._

 _But Stiles gave him a look. "What are you talking about?"_

" _He said that he would be coming with you."_

 _Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Scott told me that he would be waiting for me here, with you."_

" _Derek," Boyd called out. "I can't reach Isaac."_

" _Oh Scott, what are you doing?" Stiles mumbled before he moved off to try and call his friend._

 _Cora went and leaned in close to her brother. "This is the guy? The one Deucalion threatened you with?"_

" _Yep," Derek muttered. "That's him."_

 _Cora looked him up and down. "You're joking."_

" _Nope," her brother said bluntly._

" _He doesn't look so special," she muttered to him. "Why would Deucalion care about him?"_

 _Derek focused his gaze on the kid. "I'll admit, Stiles definitely doesn't look like much but…he definitely comes to surprise you."_

 _Stiles then let out a frustrated scowl. "Scott's not picking up."_

" _So, now what? We just go on without him and Isaac then?" Boyd asked._

" _No," Stiles said to him. "You don't get it. Scott knows what we're about to do, and he knows that we are going to do it with or without him. But he doesn't want us to do it at all. If he's not here than that means he is going to try and stop us."_

" _How?" said Boyd._

" _He's going to go to Deucalion," Derek muttered out frustratingly. "He's going to try and handle this himself."_

" _And if Isaac's not answering too, he might just be with him. He's staying with him now." Stiles said._

 _Cora snorted and rolled her eyes. "I thought that he looked like an idiot."_

" _Hey," Stiles said rounding on her. "Scott's not the most sensible person on the planet, but he's not idiot." He then went back to his phone._

" _He might as well be," Derek spat out. "Deucalion won't be interested in talking. He's going to get himself killed and he's dragging Isaac down with him. We've got to find him."_

" _How are we going to do that?" Cora asked. "They could be meeting with Deucalion anywhere."_

 _Stiles was smiling as he showed his phone to them. "Friend Finder App. I have Scott's GPS programmed in. I've already got him. He's not too far. We can get to wherever he's going just after him. Get in," he said moving for the driver's seat of his Jeep. Cora and Boyd gave Derek a look before he nodded at them. Stiles then noticed one missing. "Your uncle's not coming?"_

" _Said that he still isn't 100% yet," Derek said before he climbed into the shotgun seat._

" _Shocker," Stiles muttered before he moved into his seat and then moved to drive them off._

* * *

Deaton began to cut Ennis' shirt away to get a good look at his injury. "Would someone please go and turn the sign on the front door to 'Closed'? This could take a while."

Aiden went over to the door and switched the sign to Closed just as Cora and Peter Hale made their way into the sight of it.

"An animal clinic?" asked Cora.

"It's not as ordinary as it looks. The building's half made out of mountain ash. I'm not actually sure how to get in."

Cora rolled her eyes at him. "Well, maybe we could do what normal people do, and knock on the door?"

But before Cora could make another step for it, Peter halted her. "They're here."

"Who?"

"All of them." Peter's eyes were looking at the clinic with panic and apprehension as he sensed the Alpha Pack inside.

Deaton was left to treat Ennis in privacy until he froze when he saw that there was an observer just outside the room.

"How's our patient?" Deucalion calmly asked.

"Out cold," Deaton told him.

Deucalion started to make his way over. "And the prognosis?"

"Surprisingly optimistic. He's gonna make it."

"Hmm." Deucalion blinked his pale eyes and then calmly moved his hand over to Ennis' scalp. He gave him two affectionate kisses and then moved to squeeze his claws into the man's temple. Deaton watched as Deucalion increased the pressure and then caved the Alpha's head in causing blood and brain matter to shoot from his ears. "I think you might have overestimated his odds," he said calmly and walked out as if he hadn't just killed a fellow member of his pack.

Deaton eyed Ennis' body and knew that, now, things would only get worse. For everyone.

Cora and Peter moved for the back but saw the door there was closed shut.

"How do we know who's in there?" Cora asked. "Is it Derek or Ennis or both?"

But the door was then slammed open and the two Hales dived under the cover of a nearby car. They carefully looked up and saw Kali stomping out with Aiden at her heel, trying to calm her down. Kali just pushed Aiden away and let out a loud and pained growl up into the air.

"Well, we know one thing," Peter mumbled to his niece. "That wasn't for Derek."

They then made their way out of there as Kali kept up her grief at the loss of Ennis with Aiden pulling at her before he finally got her into a hug.

* * *

 _Scott rode his bike into the place that Deucalion chose to meet. At an abandoned mall downtown. "We're just going to talk to him," Scott said once they arrived. "Try to reason with him. That's it." But Isaac was giving him a look. "What?" he asked._

" _Nothing," Isaac shrugged. "It's just…I'm actually kind of hungry now."_

 _Scott gave him a nudging tap on the shoulder. "So am I."_

 _Scott and Isaac began walking off through the complex for a couple of minutes before they came upon Deucalion standing in the middle of a flight of stairs, still in wait. They moved to approach him throwing each other a tense look._

" _You didn't come alone," Deucalion said to Scott._

" _Yeah," Scott said. "This is Isaac."_

" _I'm not talking about Isaac."_

 _Scott then heard it. The sound of approaching footsteps. He and Isaac turned to see Derek, Stiles, Cora and Boyd slowly approaching them. Each one of them shifted. Derek started moving in closer._

 _"You knew I would do this?" Scott asked him._

" _No," Scott looked over at Stiles. "I did once I saw that you tried to set us up. Good thing I wanted to head in early."_

 _Derek started to walk passed him and Scott moved to cut him off. "Derek, don't. You can't do this or someone gets hurt. Someone else dies."_

" _Yeah, him," Derek pointed up at Deucalion who was still calmly overseeing them all. "Just him."_

" _Scott," Stiles sounded off. "Open your eyes. Do you really think that Deucalion was going to come here alone? He couldn't even if he wanted to."_

 _Deucalion just raised his head slightly in Stiles' direction. "So, you are Stiles. I must say, it's a pleasure to finally meet you," Deucalion said to him calmly though Stiles was giving him a hard look. "And I dare say that you are as clever as the rumors say you are."_

" _What are you talking about?" Scott asked._

 _Deucalion lowered his head back to Scott. "Come now Scott. How do you believe that a blind man like me finds his way through a place like this, all on his own?"_

" _Answer: he doesn't," said Stiles. "He gets led in."_

 _Scott's eyes widened as he suddenly understood before there was a soft rumbling noise sounding off not too far. Everyone's eyes were drawn to Kali who was sliding down a stone beam to Deucalion's right with her feet's claws digging their way in as she descended. Then behind Scott and Isaac, Ennis was stomping forward, his shifted face fierce and ready for a fight. Then, further up above, both Ethan and Aiden were moving forward and looked down at them all with eager looks on their faces._

* * *

Allison was helping Scott out of the bathroom slowly when Lydia went and moved to take the stuff from them to help Allison better keep Scott upright.

"Where's Stiles?" Scott asked her.

"Trying to stall Coach," she answered. Lydia then looked over at Allison. "Uh, we still don't have gas."

"I'm not leaving him," Allison said.

"Then we have to leave the car," she pointed out.

"Sounds good."

Lydia stopped walking. "What? That wasn't…an actual suggestion." But Allison kept carrying Scott off and Lydia moved to keep up with them. "Allison, wait."

As they headed to the buses, they were hearing a lot of people shouting and cheering.

"What's going on?" Scott asked.

Allison raised herself up higher and focused her eyes and to see that there was a crowd not too far from the bus. They were all from their school and they seemed to be watching something. The sound of Coach's voice started to be heard. He was shouting Isaac's name, repeatedly and angrily.

"Oh no," she muttered.

At that, Scott broke away from her and stumbled over to the crowd as fast as he could. He made his way through the people to see Isaac was pounding on Ethan as the Coach was trying to separate them.

"Isaac, back off!" Coach yelled at him but Isaac brushed him away.

Isaac then pushed Ethan to the ground and charged for him but he was then grabbed at his shoulder and pushed down to the ground. Stiles had been on the bus, moving to try and stall the Coach when they heard the fighting break out. Stiles saw that Isaac had snapped and moved to separate them. He understood the guy's anger, but this wasn't the time and place for it. Not with this many innocent people around.

Isaac just got up and moved to go back to tearing Ethan apart, even if he had to go through Stiles. He didn't care anymore.

"Isaac!" Scott shouted at him.

Isaac suddenly stopped in his tracks. He looked up at Scott's face and he started to calm his breathing and settle down.

Danny then ran off to help Ethan get to his feet. Ethan made to push his way around Danny to make a pass at them. But Stiles quickly turned around and glared right into his eyes. Ethan was staring at Stiles as the memory of last night hit him and he actually started to feel nervous. He took a step back and then looked over to Scott, Isaac and even Boyd who all had their eyes narrowed at him as well before Danny went and helped him into the bus.

A whistle sounded and Coach stomped on to the center of this grouping. He then rounded on Isaac. "Alright Lahey, you're sitting in the front with me, for the rest of this trip. And you could bet that you have plenty of suicide runs and detention to look forward to when we get back. As for the rest of you, show's over. Now get on the bus!"

Stiles walked on over to Scott. "Hey, feeling okay?"

Scott nodded. "Yeah. I'm okay now, really."

Stiles then heard some footsteps and turned to look over at Allison who stopped just a few feet away from them. The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Stiles just turned away and headed for the bus.

* * *

 _Derek let out a growl before he charged in for Kali. At that, it caused the other members of the Alpha Pack to charge as well as the twins jumped off the landing and combined in mid-air to form their combined Alpha form just as they hit the ground. Boyd was fighting Ennis alongside Stiles as Cora moved to help her brother fight Kali. Scott pushed Isaac back as he watched in despair as they all started to fight despite his wishes that they don't. The fused twins stomped forward and roared at them. Isaac then shifted and ran to fight with him. Scott rolled his eyes but saw that there now was no choice and then shifted to fight as well. The only one not fighting was Deucalion who stayed calmly where he was as he listened and observed all that was going on around him._

 _Isaac was thrown to the side by the twins just as Scott moved to help him. He was grabbed by the throat and thrown off into a nearby pillar. Isaac moved to swipe at their fused face but their beefy hand clamped at his shoulder and Isaac let out a hard shout when they pushed on it. Scott made it to his feet and ran to get them to let Isaac go but they went and clawed right up Scott's torso sending a shower of blood spewing out and Scott roared deafeningly in pain._

 _Ennis went and dug his claws into Boyd's side and then launched him in into the air where he landed with his back slamming on the hard floor. Stiles then threw a punch at Ennis face which made him growl in anger. Stiles tried to throw another punch but Ennis grabbed his arm and pulled on it making Stiles growl out in pain and made him stiffen up. Stiles was then grabbed by his shoulder too but he quickly threw his head back to connect with Ennis' jaw and was freed. Derek stuck Kali with his claws but she managed to pull back out of the way. Cora moved in and kicked her from behind to push her back Derek's way and he struck at her face with his elbow. At her pained cry, Ennis turned away from Stiles and moved to claw at Cora for her shot at Kali. At Cora's cry, Derek dropped his guard to look at her which Kali used to send a clawed kick across Derek's face and sent him flying face first to the ground. Stiles moved to get to Ennis to keep him from hurting Cora more but he was struck at back of his leg with Kali's clawed feet when she spun and sent a kick at him to help Ennis. Stiles let out a pain gasp as he fell on one knee. Boyd tried to charge at Ennis from behind but he felt his approach and grabbed him and held him tight. Kali moved for them and sent a spinning kick right for Boyd who was struck in his stomach by Kali's claws next. Ennis then threw Boyd off to the side and joined Kali as they stood in the middle of all the fallen bodies._

 _The twins grabbed Isaac off the floor and whipped him over so that he landed some feet away and hit the floor close to Boyd. They then grabbed Scott by his arm and they dragged him off so that they could be with the others. They then dropped him down and moved for the still kneeling Stiles and grabbed him from the back of his neck to make him be upright as he moved their other set of claws to be over the front of his neck._

 _Derek was the first to stand amongst them but was frozen on what to do now._

" _Kill him," Deucalion called out._

" _What?" he spat out._

 _Deucalion pointed his cane over in twins' direction as they held Stiles up to be helpless. "Kill him," he repeated. "Right here and right now Derek. Or." Kali took that as her cue and stomped over to Cora and put her foot on her chest with the claws just grazing the young girl's jugular. "Your sister dies."_

 _Stiles eyes widened. "What? Do you mean me?!" he cried. But he stopped there as the fused twins went and yanked hard on the kid's hair. Stiles moved to try and pull the twins' grip away from himself but they weren't budging._

" _Don't tell me that you've forgotten my promise Derek?" Derek glared at him. "It would seem young Stilinski doesn't have the fortitude to be what I hoped for after all. Not if one meager strike from Kali could render him so impotent. If you had done what I said and just went to kill him sooner you could've saved me a great deal of false hope and spared a great deal of disappointment. So go…put him out of his misery Derek…or Kali will add to yours." Kali then pushed the claws on her feet further up into Cora's neck to make her let out a pained cry._

 _Derek looked from his sister who was looking scared as she was pinned down to Stiles who was forced up and made to be helpless to assault. He then moved his gaze over to Scott and his face fell into an apologetic look. Scott then understood Derek's sudden desperation to kill Deucalion. The blind Alpha had threatened him with his sister's life if he didn't kill his friend. That's why he had tried to strike at Deucalion so quickly._

" _No," Scott said as he tried to struggle but Ennis moved over grabbed at his shoulder to keep him from getting up. "Wait."_

" _Come on Derek," Kali spat at him. "You're really going to stand there and weigh that pathetic boy over your own sister? And you call yourself an Alpha? The kid's not even really in your little pack of worthless teenagers."_

" _Some have more promise than others," Deucalion put in as he started to descend slightly down the steps. He have Scott a small look before he looked over at Stiles. "And even then some just don't have what it takes to ascend to their mantles."_

" _Let's see if Derek will rise to the occasion himself," Kali faced Derek and her red eyes burned at him. "Now choose. The boy or your family!" she shouted making Cora give out a small scream as she drew some blood from Cora's neck._

 _Derek grit his teeth as he let out a pained growl and turned to look at Stiles. He made one step towards him…and then another. Stiles' heart started to beat more rapidly and his blood started to heat up. Something that was noticed by Deucalion all the way from where he was standing and it made him tighten his grip on his cane. He let a small smile escape him as his eagerness started to grow. Derek's already slow approach seemed to be running twice as slow for Stiles as he saw the pain in Derek's eyes. Derek didn't want to do this as Stiles looked over at Cora as she was frightfully held down he understood that there wasn't a choice. But there was no guarantee that Deucalion wouldn't kill her anyway. Kill any of them anyway. Stiles then looked over at Scott who was looking right at him and couldn't remember seeing his friend look so scared in his whole life. He then thought of his father and how he would look seeing him dead. He remembered seeing and feeling the pain that his dad had when he saw him semi-broken before over four months ago. Stiles couldn't let him go through that again. He wouldn't let him go through that again._

 _Stiles' gold eyes flickered for a moment, the whites going dark and his pupils burning a brighter shade of gold before returning to their normal beta form. His clawed hands dug deeper into the fused hand holding his throat. Stiles had a fleeting image of a bunch of people punching and clawing at him but he pushed it away as he moved to pull the beefy hand away from his neck. The twins then leaned their head in to bare a hard growl at his ear as they moved to keep their grip on his throat and Stiles grit his teeth before suddenly snapping their right wrist. The sudden rush of pain made their other hand let go of his hair and Stiles spun around. The twins leered down at Stiles and raised their left arm up to strike down and claw at him but Stiles let out a hard growl before went and struck at the hulking Alpha's rock hard chest with both of his hands tightened into fists. The blow threw the fused Alphas off their feet and flew them backwards until they collided with a pillar not too far away. A dent was made in the concrete before the twins fell to the floor, as two people again. Stiles then fell down to both of his knees and was panting hard._

 _Everyone was staring at what Stiles just did with wide eyes and even a few jaws were dropped. All save for Deucalion who was giving off a pleased grin where some of his fangs were visible. But the moment didn't last long as a flash went off at the floor next to Kali making her flinch and jump away from Cora. Then another flash went off next to Ennis making him let go of Scott._

" _Your eyes!" Deucalion shouted out. "Cover your eyes!" He shouted to them as another flash struck._

* * *

Allison was sitting with her father as she brought up the Alpha Pack being in town.

"Someone needs to help them," she said resolutely.

But her father just glared off in the opposite direction. "Not us," he said before facing her. "I'm getting the consulting business back up and running and you need to graduate. That's a normal life and it's what we agreed to."

Allison rolled her eyes but they dropped down when she seemed to notice something on the table. It looked like a diagram of some kind of symbol. Her father noticed her gaze and went to open a book to cover it up.

Allison narrowed her eyes at him. "So we just ignore it?"

"We stay out of it," he corrected.

"There's a pack of Alphas that's trying to kill my friends. How do I stay out of that?"

He let out a stressed breath. "There's a saying for these kinds of situations, the kind that you have to navigate carefully. It's called 'Threading the Needle'. It's finding a safe path between two opposing forces."

"Yeah, well, it sounds more like saving your own ass." She then moved to get up and leave.

"They're not your family," he called out to her.

Allison stopped before she left the room and faced him. "With all the family that I've lost, I could use a few friends. Even grudging ones." She then fully left the room.

 _Those were the events that were playing through Allison's mind as she followed the trail of the others that led her to the abandoned mall. She could feel that something had been going on that day and when no one was answering her calls, she knew that they was going to be trouble. She hacked into Scott's phone and activated his GPS to find him at this place. When she saw Stiles' abandoned Jeep parked outside, she knew that this was the right place. She then heard the echoes of howls and growls from inside and moved to get her bow ready. She arrived just in time to see Stiles find the strength to somehow throw and separate the twins from their combined form. She used that distraction to incapacitate Kali and Ennis to lose their leverage and hold over the others._

 _She kept firing her flash bolts to buy the pack time to recover themselves. Scott raised his head and squinted through the bright flashes to get a glimpse of her helping them from above._

 _Derek moved to help Cora to her feet. She then looked over at Stiles who was now kneeling on his hands and knees in either pain or tiredness. The next flash to be let out was next to the twins who were starting to try and get back up. It illuminated Stiles' body and, for a split second, Cora caught a glimpse of his shadow. But it wasn't the shadow of a boy kneeling. It looked more like that of a hulking wolf, complete with a tail, on all fours._

 _Allison was soon out of arrows so she then ducked down into cover. When the barrage was clearly over, Ennis got to his feet and faced down Scott. He pushed Isaac over to help Boyd who was still on the ground, quite hurt. Cora came over and helped him pull Boyd to his feet and they moved his arms over their necks. Stiles slowly moved up to his feet. He was breathing a little hard and he was feeling a little light headed but he seemed fine. He was so distracted by everything that was going around him, he couldn't see that his leg was already starting to heal from Kali's claws. He saw that Isaac and Cora were helping Boyd and moved to intercept them._

" _I got him," he told Isaac as he moved to take his arm from Boyd. "Help Scott," he told him._

 _Ennis charged for Scott who was likewise charging for him. They went and collided and the sheer force of it sent the both of them flying away from each other. The shockwave drew both Allison and Deucalion's attention to them directly. Scott ended up on one knee but he looked up. As he did, unbeknownst to him, his eyes burned red but Allison, Deucalion and even Ennis seemed to notice it. Scott felt his eyes burn so he shook it off and the red glow disappeared._

 _It didn't matter to Deucalion, he was happy to find that quick progress was being made after all, on both counts. "Teenagers, always at the mercy of their emotions," he mumbled to himself._

 _Derek moved to take Ennis by surprise as Scott was soon joined by Isaac. The two of them watched as Derek and Ennis fought with each other and started to move for the ledge. Scott quickly broke into a run and went to claw at Ennis leg making him lose his balance and he grabbed onto Derek and the two of them ended up falling right over for the lower level. Scott watched in horror as Derek fell to the ground and didn't move._

 _Over with Stiles and the others, Cora let out a pained scream. Stiles set Boyd against a pillar and ran to catch and hold Cora back from running off after him._

* * *

" _I could've found my way back on my own, you know," Cora snarled out as she walked into the loft._

 _Stiles walked on in behind her and gave her a tired sort of look. He was reminded of the time he had gone out of his way to try and help Derek when he was shot and gotten lip from him too. "I think I'm starting to see resemblance," he mumbled. But that comment made Cora freeze and look towards the window. Stiles deflated. "Cora, I'm sorry."_

" _Don't," she said. "Just, leave me alone."_

 _Stiles didn't budge though. He just kept looking at her as her back was turned to him. "I think he's still alive you know."_

 _Cora let out a snort and rolled her eyes which were already shining a bit. "You don't have to lie to try and cheer me up."_

" _I'm not. I'm just telling you what I really think. Derek's pulled through from worse than a bad fall. And he wasn't even an Alpha then. Trust me, right now he's still out there. Licking his wounds until he's ready to show his annoying and scary face again. It seems you Hales are hard to get rid of. Derek, and even you have both come back when it looked like you were dead. Even that psycho uncle of yours couldn't stay gone for long and he was actually dead." He smiled for a split second before it was wiped away. "He'll be back."_

" _Are you sure you should be happy about that? He almost tried to kill you tonight."_

 _Stiles took in a deep breath. "Yeah, well he didn't. And besides, even if he did, I get it. It was me or you. There was no choice." If it was him and he had to pick between someone and his father…he was pretty sure he knew exactly how Derek was feeling then and there. He didn't blame the guy. That was reserved for Deucalion. "You sure you'll be okay here by yourself?" he asked her._

" _I'll be alright. I'm used to taking care of myself. Besides, I'm not alone. My uncle is still around."_

" _Yeah, well I wouldn't put much trust in him if I were you."_

" _I don't trust anyone," she said to him._

" _Oh, well good then."_

 _Stiles was getting ready to leave when Cora finally turned to look back at him. "Hey Stiles," she said to him._

" _Yeah?" He stopped and looked back over at her._

" _Tonight…what happened? How did you get the strength to free yourself from the twins and throw them like that?"_

 _Stiles narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "I don't know. I guess…it was like some kind of weird adrenaline thing." He then went and wiped his hand across his eyes. "Well...Good night."_

" _Night," Cora said back as she watched him leave._ _Her eyes then narrowed as she saw that Stiles seemed to be walking normally. It looked like the wound from Kali had healed itself. "Wait, your leg," she said to him._

 _"Huh?" Stiles stopped and looked down at where Kali had torn at it with her claws. "Yeah, don't worry, it's fine now. But I appreciate a show of concern for once," he said before he fully left the loft._

 _She went to touch the cuts under her chin that she got from Kali's claws and felt them still there and not fully healed yet. Her mind played back everything tonight. The show of strength Stiles brought out, the glimpse of his shadow, and now how his wounds from an Alpha seemed to have healed so fast. Derek had said that Stiles would surprise her, and he was right. She was beginning to understand why Deucalion was interested in him. And also in his friend Scott._

* * *

Everyone was back on the bus and was, moderately, calm as it drove on down the highway again. Scott was back in his seat but Allison was sitting with him. She was watching him as he stared out the window with a forlorn look on his face. Scott wondered if Stiles was right. Was Derek really still alive? Or was it all just wishful thinking?

Allison seemed to be able to tell what he had running through his mind. "You know," she spoke up. "If he's really dead…it's not your fault." She and Derek may not be each other's favorite person but she could see that he actually meant a lot to Scott.

"Maybe," he said to her. He then caught her eye and she looked away. "Uh…remember what we talked about, where I wasn't accusing you of being there and if you were there you shouldn't be?" She nodded. "Thanks for not listening," he added with a small smile. One that Allison returned as she stared at him. "What?"

She shrugged. "I was just looking at your eyes."

Stiles was sitting in front of them with Lydia. The both of them in deep conversation.

"Okay, let's go over this again," he said to her. "The sacrifices, it all has something to do with them and someone who thinks he's a dark druid."

"Or actually is a dark druid," Lydia put in.

"A Darach. Deaton told me that he's trying to collect power and the sacrifices are each for a certain ability that he'll need. He said that there were going to be five which means there are still three more groups of people he's after. But we have no clue what they are or what its even for," he said a bit frustrated.

Lydia narrowed her eyes in thought. "You know…certain ancient cultures use to make offerings and sacrifices in preparation for battle."

Battle? Stiles then looked over to where Ethan was sitting with Danny. Isaac had told him that it was no coincidence that as soon as the Alpha Pack began to make themselves known that the killings started. What if he was actually right? The people were not being killed by them, but _because_ of them. "So," he breathed. "We've got Alpha werewolves against a dark druid."

"Yeah," Lydia mumbled to him.

* * *

Over at the clinic, Ennis' body was being covered up by a tarp by Marin as Deaton looked at her a bit disapprovingly.

"I don't think you realize what you've gotten yourself into here," he said sternly to her.

She just gave him a look. "It's a little late to be playing big brother, don't you think?"

Deaton let out a pained sigh. "This isn't…just about us anymore Marin. This is about innocent people. Kids."

"Well…something tells me that they're not going to be kids for much longer."

* * *

Jennifer Blake was leaving the school and walking to her car. She made it inside and closed the door behind her when a bloody hand reached the window startling her. She looked up to see that it was Derek and he was looking at her for a moment before he collapsed. She opened the door and went to him as he lay there, bleeding on the pavement.


	11. Motel California

Chapter 11: Motel California

On March 5th, 1977, a pickup pulled up to the Glen Capri Motel. The man that stepped out was Alexander Argent. He was given a room for the night and he moved off for Room 217. He immediately went to the bathroom and checked at his side for the great bite mark on his side. He then went to the window to get a glimpse of the full moon. His eyes full of both fear and resolve. He went to his bag and took out his shotgun and loaded in a shell. He placed it under his chin and as soon as he felt the burn from the moon and his eyes glowing, pulled the trigger.

Over thirty years later, a bus full of teenagers was pulling up to the Glen Capri. Scott, Stiles, Allison and Lydia came out and gave the motel a grim look.

"I've seen worse," Scott tried to shrug off.

"Where have you seen worse?" Stiles asked as he kept his eyes on the gloomy and run-down looking place.

But before anything else could be said, a familiar whistle blew.

"Listen up," Coach said to everyone. "The meet's been pushed up until tomorrow. This is the closest motel with the most vacancies and the least amount of good judgement when it comes to accepting a bunch of degenerates like yourselves." He then held up a bunch of room keys. "You'll be pairing up. Choose wisely." One by one, the keys were taken as people paired off to head for their rooms. "And I'll have no sexual perversions perpetrated by you little deviants. Got that?" he warned. "Keep your dirty little hands to your dirty little selves."

Allison moved to head for their room but she noticed that Lydia was still standing in the same spot, looking out at the place. "Lydia?"

Lydia just kept her gaze on it. "I don't like this place."

Allison gave the motel another hard look and smiled. "I don't think the people that _own_ this place like this place," she laughed out. "And it's just for a night."

Lydia took a deep breath. "A lot can happen in one night."

* * *

Scott and Stiles got into their room at 213 and quickly threw their stuff down and laid down with their backs flat on the beds.

"Alright," Stiles said. "So now I have four."

Scott looked over. "Four? You have four suspects?"

"Yeah. And trust me, they're all compelling cases."

"And who's your first one, Harris?"

"Yeah. You said it yourself, remember? Just because someone's missing doesn't mean he's dead. And so far Harris has been at the center of both The Hale Fire and The Kanima Killings." He had coined that phrase himself. "Now this. Fits, things in threes. And you know all about things in threes."

Scott narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Okay, so if he's alive then that means that our chemistry teacher is out there somewhere secretly committing human sacrifices?"

Stiles tightened his jaw. "Yeah, I guess that sounded way better in my head."

"Well, what if it's someone else from school? Remember Matt, we didn't know that he was killing people."

Stiles quickly rose up from the bed. "Scuse me? Sorry, what?" He then got to his feet. "Uh, yes we did. I called that from Day 1 actually."

Scott then rose up onto his elbows. "Well yeah but we never actually thought it was Matt."

"I was serious. I was _quite_ serious actually. Deadly serious. No one listened to me."

"Who are the other three?" Scott said trying to move this along.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Derek's sister, Cora. No one really knows anything about her or what she's been up to for the last 6 years. Not my strongest suspect but gotta keep our possibilities open."

"Okay," Scott nodded. "And the others?"

"The other two are actually my strongest suspects. The first, your boss."

That made Scott straighten and sit upright. "My boss? I thought he was helping you solve this."

"Yeah, well that doesn't rule him out. For starters I don't like that whole Obi-Wan thing he's got going on. It kind of freaks me out." Scott was staring at him blankly and Stiles could smell the confusion leaking from him. "Oh, my, god, have you still not seen Star Wars?"

"I swear, if we make it back alive I will watch the movie."

Stiles shook his head. "Unbelievable," he mumbled before shaking it off. "Anyway, there's also the fact that he seems to know a little too much of what's going on but keeps it to himself most of the time. Up until it gets forced out of him. And-" Stiles froze.

"What? What is it?"

Stiles looked straight in Scott's eyes. "I get the feeling that he knows something, something big, and he's trying to keep it from us. It's like a vibe or something. The way he's been looking at me when he thinks I can't see it."

Scott felt something cold run up his spine. He wouldn't admit it, but he was starting to get that feeling from Deaton too. Sometimes he would catch his boss giving him a look that he tries to brush off. It hadn't really been bothering him, he had actually thought it was just in his head. But if he was doing that to Stiles too, maybe it wasn't just in his head. But Scott wanted to steer this away from Deaton. He really liked the guy and didn't want to believe that he was secretly some kind of mystical killer. "And the other one?"

Stiles sighed. "Lydia," he said in a low voice. He then moved to sit back on the foot of his bed. "She was totally controlled by Peter and she had no idea what she was doing. And, I found her at one of the bodies and she says that she had no idea how she got there or why."

The two of them just sat there and weighed all the facts that were just laid out on the table. Neither wanted to admit it but it was a strong possibility that whoever was doing this was someone close to them. They both then dropped down and let their backs hit the beds with an exhausted huff.

* * *

Jennifer pushed on the latch and pulled the metal door open as she moved to get Derek inside. It wasn't easy as he was heavy for her and he could barely help support himself.

"This is a bad idea," she grunted. "I should be taking you to a hospital."

"No hospital," Derek weakly mumbled out. "No hospital."

As they started on inside, her grip on Derek was starting to slip. "Derek," she gasped. "I…I can't hold you anymore. I'm losing you," she said right before she lost her grip and Derek fell to the ground. "Derek!" she cried as she moved to his side. "Derek."

* * *

Stiles remembered seeing a vending machine before as they headed to the room so he left to get himself a little snack. As he walked out of the room, he froze when he heard a howl sound off in the distance. It didn't sound too far away. He huffed and just kept on going. He moved down the steps towards the corner where he remembered the machine was and found that there was already someone there, Boyd.

"Yo," he said to him but Boyd didn't respond. He just moved to make his selection. Peanut Butter Crackers. "Oh, that's what I was going to get," he said trying to be friendly. But Boyd still stared on ahead as his selection got stuck. "Oh, hang on. I've got a patented method for this."

Stiles then moved to grip the top of the machine to shake Boyd's crackers free but Boyd just went and punched his arm right through the glass and took the entire slide of crackers away. He then walked off with them. Stiles stared after him, feeling puzzled. He looked back at the machine and hoped that no one would ask too many questions about that. Then, he shrugged and went to grab some crackers for himself.

He felt that he should probably talk to Scott more on both Boyd and Isaac. He managed a few steps away from the machine when he heard the howling again, but this time it was louder and closer. He heard some hard animal-like breathing surrounding him. It seemed to be moving about and Stiles moved to be in the center of the parking lot so that nothing could sneak up on him. The breathing then seemed to settle behind him and he slowly turned to see a pair of bright gold eyes shining in the shadows from a corner. Stiles' own eyes widened as they started to move into the light. A giant wolf, over twice the normal size, started to prowl out closer to him and snarl. Its deep brown fur flapped in the breeze and its golden eyes were locked completely on him. Stiles was starting to sweat and his breathing quickened as he went to take a step back. At that, the wolf barked and broke into a run before it quickly pounced. Stiles quickly tried to back away but slipped on a small crack in the pavement. He fell onto his back and quickly shielded his face with his arms but there was no feeling of attack. He then moved his arms away from his face to see that the wolf was gone. Stiles hard breathing echoed in his ears and the sweat was dripping from his face.

* * *

Scott was looking at himself in the mirror as he brushed his teeth when he felt a sudden twitch in his eye. He went to take a closer look but as he looked, the iris of his eye shined red. He jumped back as he saw that it was not back to normal. He then started to move off out of the room. He moved to open the door to Room 217, Allison and Lydia's room. He heard the shower going in the bathroom and heard Allison's heartbeat. Lydia seemed to have stepped out so he stepped on in and closed the door behind him.

From inside the shower, Allison heard the door close so she peeked out of the shower curtain. "Lydia, did you get any towels?" she asked out before putting her head back in. Soon footsteps echoed inside the small bathroom. "Lydia?" Allison moved her head back out of the curtain and she jumped back to cover herself when she saw that it was Scott, not Lydia. "Scott? What are you doing?"

"Looking for you," he said simply as he just stared at her.

"Well, you found me. In the shower. Slightly naked if you didn't notice."

"I've seen you naked before."

Scott's blank tone started to make Allison feel kind of nervous. "Okay, but remember, we're kind of not together anymore."

But Scott took another step forward, not taking his eyes off her. "We're still friends right? We could just be, closer friends," he said to her in a predatory whisper. "Maybe, we could fix things between us?" he said moving in even closer and reaching for her. "Between all of us."

Scott went to touch her hand but something was wrong. Unlike in the past, his reaching for her hand made her feel calm and safe. Now, she felt slightly put off. Scott was clearly not acting like himself and was even starting to scare her.

"Scott." She pulled away from him. "What are you doing?" At that, Scott seemed to blink and he settled a bit, almost like he snapped out of something. "Are you okay?" she asked him.

Scott started to back away. "Uh, yeah. I was, um…sorry. I don't remember." He then moved to leave the room.

Allison wondered what all that was about.

* * *

When Allison had gone to take a shower, she noticed that the towels smell of cigarettes. Lydia went to take them to the front desk to exchange them for new, cleaner ones. She reached the window and knocked on it.

"Excuse me," she said to further pull the desk lady's attention. "The card on the dresser says that we're in a non-smoking room but, somehow, all of our towels reek of nicotine," she sighed.

"Sorry about that sweetheart."

Lydia's eyes widened when the lady fully turned around to reveal that she had a breathing aid attached to her neck, which she knew were for smokers. Suffice to say that meant one egg for her face. She moved her eyes away and noticed what seemed to be a number on the wall. "What's that?" she asked. "That number."

"It's a kinda inside thing for the motel that my husband insists on keeping it up."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a little bit morbid to be honest, sure you want to know?"

"Tell me," Lydia insisted. After everything she's seen and been through, morbid was a very loose definition.

"We're not going to make the top of anyone's list when it comes to customer satisfaction."

"Obviously," Lydia mumbled.

The desk lady continued. "But, we are the number one in California when it comes to one disturbing little detail. Since opening, more than any other motel in California, we have the most guest suicides."

Lydia looked over at the number again. "198?"

"And counting," the lady smiled at that little bit.

At that moment, Isaac was in his room in front of the television. It was on Channel 198. There was nothing but fuzz and he flipped the channel up and stopped at 201. A dazed look was on his face as he stared at the number. He then flipped it twice more and then turned it off.

* * *

Chris Argent was walking through the empty abandoned mall where he noticed signs of recent heavy activity. Calmly, he was able to put together a picture of what happened with every spot of blood, every footprint, scratch mark and sign of damage. There had been a full out battle here, between werewolves. A lot of them. It would seem that Scott, Stiles, Derek and the others must've fought the Alpha Pack here and very recently.

His phone then started to ring and he saw that it was Allison calling him. "Sweetheart? Are you back at home?"

"No," she said to him. "We kind of got held up. The car was also out of gas so we had to hop a ride with the rest of the team on the bus."

"Want me to come and pick you up? I don't mind a late night drive."

"No," she said dismissively. "It's okay. We're at a motel."

"The school paid for that?"

"Yeah, yeah. It's not great but, it's just for a night."

"What's it called?" he asked.

"The Glen Capri. What, do you know it?"

His eyes narrowed. "Sounds familiar. Listen, sweetheart, I'm going to hop in the car and come and get you guys." Chris then started to pace.

"No," Allison said. "Dad, seriously…it's okay."

"If there's something you feel like you can't tell me, I just want you to know you can talk to me. We don't have to keep anything from each other."

"I know," she softly said. "Good night."

"Good night," he said back to her.

He then hung up his phone and went to touch the hole on a nearby pillar that had singe marks on it. The kind that would be made by a flash bolt arrow. It seemed as if werewolves weren't the only ones that were here during all the commotion.

* * *

At the loft, Jennifer Blake kept standing vigil over Derek as he lay on a makeshift bed. He was breathing quite hard as he tried to stay awake. She carefully lifted his shirt and exposed the wounds he had on him. Some were still bleeding.

"How bad," Derek asked her after a moment.

"Uh, to be honest, the 'oh my god' would be for your unbelievable physique if it weren't for the fact that…you're bleeding black blood," she stuttered out. Derek then let his head slump down. "Derek? Oh god, you're not dying are you?" she cried at him. Derek then was still as a statue. "Derek, please don't die. Derek!" Jennifer then went and put her ear to his chest and relaxed a bit when she heard the faint sound of his beating heart. She let out a relieved gasp. "Not exactly how I wished for a first date."

Derek let a small smile tug on the corners of his lips. His nose then twitched as he inhaled deeply. The sweet smell of honey filled his senses. "You smell nice," he mumbled.

* * *

Lydia got back to the room and quickly told Allison what she had found out at the front desk. Allison was mortified to say the least.

"198?" Allison asked as she dried herself.

"Yes," Lydia huffed. "And we're talking 40 years. On average that's like, 4.95 suicides a year which, actually to be expected. But who commemorates that with a framed number? Who does that?"

Allison then stepped out, fully dressed, and went to her bag before looking back at her friend. "All suicides?"

"Yes. Hanging. Throat cutting. Pill popping. Both barrels of a shotgun in the mouth suicides. Now, I don't know about you but me, I-" Lydia stopped when she started hearing a man talking. He was asking someone which one they wanted. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" asked Allison.

But Lydia didn't answer. She heard a woman answering the man. She said that he should pick. The voices seemed to be coming from the vent on the wall and Lydia walked on over to it to hear it better. As they spoke on, it looked like there were deciding on dividing something. But then the woman asked if he would be counting or if they should just do it. But the guy said that he would count, to three. He then started counting. Lydia gasped when the girl said that after three would be when they pulled the trigger.

Allison froze when she saw how she was acting. "Lydia?"

But Lydia was still not moving away. She was starting to freak when the pair said they loved each other before the guy started counting. On three, there was a loud gunshot and Lydia pulled back and covered her scream with her mouth.

Allison rushed to her. "What is it Lydia? What happened?"

"Didn't you hear that?" she cried.

"Hear what?"

"The people, in the other room, they shot each other." Lydia then ran out the door and headed for the room next door. She quickly went for the door and noticed that it was unlocked and then opened it to find it dark inside. "Hello?" she called out.

Allison was right behind her. "Lydia, what are you doing?"

Lydia walked on inside when the lightswitch wasn't working. She stumbled inside and found a work light so she switched it on to reveal the room was empty and under renovation. "It had to be right here," she said to her. "There was a guy and a girl, they sounded younger, but they were here." She then looked pleadingly to Allison, hoping that she believed her.

"I believe you," Allison said unflinchingly. "After everything we've been through, I believe you."

Lydia gave the room another look and her eyes fell on the wood panels of the walls. She took a closer look and felt that the shapes in the wood greatly resembled a person screaming.

* * *

Back in Stiles' room at Beacon Hills, his father the sheriff, flipped the lightswitch on to illuminate the dark room. With Stiles now gone overnight, he figured that now would be the best time to try and find some answers to make some semblance of sense for what was happening. He noticed that the board that he saw his son set up was now gone.

He then started to look around, starting at the closet. "C'mon Stiles. Just what the heck is going on with you?" he mumbled as he moved things around. "With all of you."

He then spotted a plastic bag with clothes in it and reached in to pull them out. He saw that they were his son's, but they were torn and ripped in a few places. A pair of jeans he pulled out had a piece ripped out from the back of the leg and there was a heavy spot of blood surrounding the rip. From the look of these clothes, it seemed his son had gotten mauled by an animal but that didn't make sense. He had seen him before he left that morning. Stiles had seemed fine, no visible marks or injuries on him at all. His father put it all back and then kept looking around.

He pulled up the covering from Stiles' made bed and noticed that a board was hidden underneath them. He pulled it out and laid it in front to get a better look. In the middle was a diagram of some kind of symbol. It had five circles and two of them had his son's writing in it. One read Virgins. The other read Warriors. A yellow string connected the Virgins circle to an outer circle he drew that had pictures of the three first victims of the latest homicides. Likewise, there was a yellow string that connected the Warriors circle to three other pictures. One to that kid found dead in the woods by the school. Then there were two others next to it of teachers. One of them was Adrian Harris and the sheriff knew that these two people were recently declared missing. At the top right hand corner of this board, there was a picture of a flower, Mistletoe. He had remembered that Stiles and Melissa McCall had been talking about that. There were notes about it being found in all the victims and wherever they were taken. There also seemed to be a note that Stiles made to himself that read: _Watch for its scent._ Below all of this was a drawing of a silhouette with a question written inside that read: _Who is the Darach?_

The sheriff was now even more confused and baffled than before. None of this made any sense. He then went for his laptop and opened a Search engine. He typed in the word, Darach.

* * *

Boyd had a bucket as he went over to the motel's ice machine. He started to scoop up some ice when he heard a girl's voice. It was familiar.

"Don't," it said. "You weren't supposed to leave me."

"Alisha?" Boyd muttered.

"Why did you leave me?" it said.

It seemed to be coming from inside the machine. "Alisha?" he cried before he began to dig into the clumps of ice.

He began to push the ice out and dig his way in before he then revealed a girl's face. It's dead and lightless eyes staring right up at him. Boyd gasped and dropped more ice out and even the bucket that he had filled, spilling ice cubes everywhere.

* * *

Lydia was frantically gathering her things up. "There's something wrong with this place," she said as she moved about. "We need to leave."

Allison was trying to calm her. "But they were suicides. Not murders. And its not like this place is haunted, right?"

Lydia stopped and just looked at her. "Maybe it is. You know, I bet that couple made that suicide pact in that very room. Maybe that's why they're renovating. Maybe they've been trying to scrape brain matter off the wood paneling."

Allison nodded. "Maybe we should find out."

The two of them moved for the front desk but saw that the lady was gone. She left a sign saying that she would be back in a half hour.

"There goes that," Lydia mumbled.

She looked over at Allison but noticed that her face seemed confused.

"Didn't you say that the sign read 198?" Allison asked her.

Lydia looked at the number and saw that it had changed. It now read 201. "It was 198," she said. "I swear to God that it was 198."

"Okay, what does that mean? That there have been three more suicides?"

"Or three more about to happen." Lydia then pulled out her phone.

Allison watched as she started up a message. "Who are you texting?" she asked her.

Lydia spared her a small look. "Stiles," she said before finishing the message. She looked back up to see Allison's face had hardened. "Well, who else should we go with this?"

"Scott," she said.

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Right, because that worked out so well last time," she said before she started stomping back for their room.

Allison let out a heated breathe but moved to follow after Lydia. She was still feeling a little irritated at just the thought of the guy. Even annoyed when, after Scott had easily caught her strikes back at her room, did she realize that Stiles had let her slap him back during their little fight. She just wondered what he wanted to prove or wanted her to prove?

* * *

Isaac was trying to sleep but he opened his eyes when he heard a faint thumping.

"Boyd?" he called out.

But there was no answer and the sound seemed to stop. He then guessed he misheard so he tried to go back to sleep but now there was the sound of scraping metal. And the thumping got louder. Isaac sat up as he tried to find where it was coming from. But he stiffened when he heard his father's voice.

"Hand me the 7/16 wrench." There was then a pause and his father's voice got annoyed. "What the hell, this is the 9/16 you moron. You do know what the difference between the 7 and the 9 is don't you dumbass?"

"The difference between the 7 and the 9 is, it's the strip bolt," Isaac said back.

"A strip bolt!" his father spat.

Isaac shrank. "I'm sorry. What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to shut up."

"Shut up. You shut up. Shut up." He started babbling before he stopped. "What can I do? I can't fix this now. I can't."

"I can't even keep it closed," his father complained. "Grab the chains."

"What?" he said frightfully.

"Are you not hearing me son? Get in the damn freezer! Get in!"

At that, Isaac went to jump back and curl under his pillow. He tried to block it all out but he quickly found himself not laying on a bed but inside the freezer. He screamed as the door shut and sealed him inside.

* * *

Scott was drying his face as he had gone to splash it with cold water and he heard his phone ring. He went over to his bed and picked it up to see that it was his mother.

"Mom?" He said into the phone but there was silence. "Mom?" he tried again.

"Scott," his mother said meekly, like she was crying.

He tensed. "Mom, what's wrong?"

Her mom then started speaking in a cracked voice. "I'm sorry. He just came in the house. I tried to stop him. I'm sorry,"

"Who? Mom, where are you?"

"Outside. Look outside," she said.

Scott quickly moved for the window and quickly spotted his mother out in the parking lot, being held at clawpoint by Deucalion.

"Scott, can you hear me?" he asked calmly as he held his mother hostage.

"What do you want?" Scott quickly asked.

"Isn't it obvious? You're an Alpha now Scott."

"I'm…I'm not. Derek, he could still be alive," he tried to argue.

"He's dead. You know he is, no matter what anyone tries to say. So now, I'm coming for you. You and everyone you love. Your best friend was supposed to be first." He then looked down at his mother. "He'll have to settle for being next." He then ran his claws and tore out his mother's throat.

Scott gasped in horror as he watched his mother's body fall flat on the ground.

"Hey Scott, you okay?"

Scott quickly turned his head to see that Stiles was at the door, looking at him in concern. Scott quickly looked over at the parking lot to see that it was empty.

Stiles wondered what was wrong before he moved to try and fan his face with his shirt. He was starting to feel quite hot. He went to wipe off some more sweat from his face when he felt his phone vibrate at his side. He took it out to see that Lydia sent him a text. It was asking him to come to her room. It said that they needed to talk. Stiles looked from it to his friend. Scott was just staring out into the distance of the window with a forlorn look on face. He then felt head get light again but Stiles went and shook it loose and wiped the fresh set of sweat that gathered at his brow. He then moved to head to see what Lydia needed to talk about.

* * *

Over in Ethan and Danny's room, the two of them were lightly making out. They were getting into it when Danny's things fell off the front of the bed.

"Sorry," Ethan said.

"Don't worry," Danny shrugged off. "It's just books."

"You've got homework? I should let you get back to that," said Ethan as he moved to lay on his side.

But Danny pulled on him. "Hell no," he said before they kissed again.

As they made out, Ethan began to kiss down from his lips, to his jaw and then his chest when he felt what seemed to be deep and old scars on Danny's torso. "What's that?" he asked.

"Oh, it's from a surgery. I had cracked, misshapen cartilages. I had a bar put in when I was fourteen. Stayed there for two years, to support my sternum so my heart and lungs wouldn't be crushed."

Ethan gave the scar a look. "Well, what if there was a way you could make them disappear?" he asked innocently enough though the thought he had was anything but.

But Danny shook his head. "I don't want them to. They make me feel like a, survivor."

Ethan looked at him sadly. He knew a thing or two about how tough survival truly was. "I really hope you are."

He went to kiss him again when Ethan started to feel something at his back. It felt like something trying to burst from his spine. He then jumped back.

Danny widened his eyes. "What?"

"Just give me a second." Ethan said before running to the bathroom.

He quickly looked in the mirror and saw that his back seemed to be fine. He guessed that he must've imagined it or something but then he felt it again, this time in his gut. He then looked and saw what seemed to be something trying to claw its way out from the inside. It looked like…a face. He then ran out and grabbed his shirt.

"Ethan, you okay?" Danny asked him concerned.

"I'll be back in a minute," he gasped as he quickly left.

* * *

Stiles knocked on the door to find Lydia waiting for him. He moved on in and she closed the door behind him but stopped when he saw Allison was also there, seemingly waiting for him as well.

"I thought you said that we needed to talk," he said looking back at Lydia accusingly.

"Yeah, _we_ do," Lydia said giving him a look that clearly said that the 'we' didn't mean just the two of them.

"I'm not in the mood for this right now," he mumbled.

"This is important Stiles," Allison said drawing his gaze back on her. But Allison narrowed her eyes at him. Stiles looked like a mess. His face seemed to be a bit pale and looked like it was glistening. She quickly realized that he seemed winded. "Are you okay?"

Stiles rolled his eyes at her. "I'm just a little hot, that's all."

Lydia moved over to him but quickly backed away. "A little hot? Stiles, you're like an oven. I could practically see the air around you bending from the heat."

Allison quickly went to the bathroom and soaked a towel in cold water before moving to hand it to him. As she gave it to him, she was able to feel a warm draft as if she had gone to stand next to a heater. "Are you coming down with something? It is pretty cool out."

"Can't be. Werewolves don't get sick," he said before wiping himself with it.

"Then why are you burning up?" Lydia asked him.

Allison thought back to what happened earlier with her and Scott. She had an eerie hunch. "Uh Stiles, by any chance did anything weird happen with you tonight?"

"Define weird," Stiles said as he wrapped the towel around the back of his heated neck.

"Like, if since we got here, you found yourself in a daze or ended up somewhere and didn't know how you got there?"

Stiles froze. "Uh, actually I did. I thought I saw-"

"What?" Allison asked.

But Stiles shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Turns out what I saw wasn't actually there."

It looked like Stiles wasn't in the mood to share something, probably personal, with Allison despite the tense atmosphere going on. Allison guessed that she was lucky that they were, at the moment, able to be civil, somewhat. That actually was progress.

"I knew it," Lydia muttered. "There's something not right here with this place. It messes with people's heads."

"What are you talking about?" Stiles said. Lydia then began to frantically tell him about the motel's history with suicides and about the counter at the front desk. She also told him about hearing the couple kill themselves in the next room. "Okay, but what does any of that have to do with what happened with me?" he asked them.

"Not just you." Allison spoke up. "I think you should know something. Earlier Scott, he came into our room, while I was in the shower." Lydia raised her eyebrows at her but Stiles narrowed his own eyes. "It's not what you think. Something was wrong with him. The way he looked and spoke, he wasn't himself. And when I yelled at him, it was like he snapped out of a daze."

"You mean, like he was in a trance?" Lydia asked feeling the tension start to come back.

"Yeah," Allison said as she started pacing. "And the last time that Scott had acted like that was during the full moon."

Stiles folded his arms up. "Yeah, he was definitely a little off around me too. But actually, it was Boyd who was really off. He went and put his fist through the vending machine."

"See?" Lydia cried out. "It is the motel. Okay and either we need to get out of here right now," She moved to open a drawer and pulled out a bible. "Or someone needs to learn to do an exorcism ASAP before the werewolves go crazy and kill us."

Stiles held up his hand to calm her down. "Alright, just hold on. What if, it's not _just_ the motel." A horrible thought then came to him. "You said that the counter went up by three, right?"

"You mean like, three sacrifices?" Allison asked.

"What if, this time, its for three werewolves? And he has his fair share of choices."

Allison's eyes widened. "You, Scott, Isaac, and Boyd," she muttered.


	12. Motel California part 2

Chapter 12: Motel California part 2

Stiles was starting to breathe more rapidly. "The meet being postponed and Coach happening to find this place. What if, we were meant to come here?" he asked horrified. "Lured here."

"Exactly," Lydia cried. "So can we get the hell out of here now? Please?!"

But Stiles noticed something off about the bible that Lydia was holding. The pages seemed ruffled. "Wait, let me see that." He took it from her and opened it to see that the book was stuffed with newspaper articles.

"What is that?" Allison asked getting closer.

Stiles twitched a bit from her getting close but kept his eyes focused on the headline. "Twenty-Eight Year Old Man Hangs Himself At The Infamous Glen Capri," he read. He then started to lay out the papers on the nearby bed.

"Whoa," Lydia said as she picked two of them up. "These two both mention the room 217." She then looked at the handful of other articles spread out. "These are probably all the suicides that happened in this room."

"And if every room has a bible," said Allison.

"There could be articles in all the rooms." Lydia finished.

Stiles wiped at the sweat on his brow. "Wow," he coughed out. "That's a beautiful thing. Most places leave a mint under the pillow, this one leaves a record of all the horrible deaths that occurred."

"What if the room next door has one about the couple?" asked Lydia.

Stiles and Allison gave her a look before Stiles moved to head out of the room. He ran to the room next door to see that it was now locked. Allison and Lydia were right behind him.

"That was not locked before," Lydia said to him.

"Forget it," Allison cried. "We need to get Scott, Isaac, Boyd and you out of here, and fast."

Stiles nodded and they moved to head on to their rooms but stopped when there was a buzzing sound coming from the locked room.

"I'm not the only one who heard that, am I?" Lydia asked out loud.

Allison shook her head and looked at the door. "It sounds like someone turned the handsaw on."

"Handsaw?" Stiles cried. He then pushed the two of them out of the way and then kicked the door in. There, in plain sight, was Ethan holding the saw and he was about to jam it into his chest. "No, Ethan!" Stiles then ran and grabbed at the saw as Ethan tried to keep pushing it into himself.

Lydia saw the two of them struggle with it and feared that one of them might get themselves seriously hurt. She then looked around until she saw the extension cord for the saw. Stiles let out a shout as he pulled the saw from Ethan's grip just as Lydia pulled the plug. Stiles' face fell just inches above the blade as it started to slow and finally stop. Lydia then ran to push the saw away and Stiles turned around in time for them to see Ethan bring out his claws. He then moved to drag them across his chest. Stiles quickly got up and grabbed at his wrists. They pulled and yanked against each other until Stiles jumped to push at them to fall backwards. He fell to the floor but Ethan fell on a heater and let a yell as he got burned before he rolled to the floor himself. He then started to pant and looked at the three of them with wide eyes. His eyes came into focus and he stood up to collect himself.

"What just happened?" he cried at them. He stared at them all for like a second before he took off out of the room.

"Ethan!" Stiles ran out after him. "We have to talk about what just happened to you."

Stiles followed after him as Ethan started to charge out and headed back for his room. "I don't know! Okay? I don't know how I got there or what I was doing."

"You could be a little more helpful," Stiles spat at him. "You know, we did just save your life!"

That made Ethan finally stop and look at him. "Yeah, and why did you? Last I checked, we tried to kill each other only last night."

Stiles glared at him. "Believe me, I remember." He then took a deep breath and his glare loosened a bit. "But, if you're going to be taken out, then it's going to be on our terms."

Ethan stood rooted there, glaring hard at Stiles, before he finally stomped off and headed off for his room. That left the three of them staring after him.

"What now?" asked Lydia.

"I'll find Scott," Allison said. "You two find Isaac and Boyd. The best thing we could do is get them out of this place."

Allison then moved to head for Scott and Stiles room while Lydia moved to get to Isaac and Boyd's. However, she stopped when she saw that Stiles wasn't following her. He was giving her a look.

"What?" she said to him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Stiles then shook his head. "Huh, oh no, I wasn't-"

"Stiles!" Lydia cut in.

Stiles blew a frustrated breath on his heated face. "Okay, Lydia I didn't want to say anything but this, everything we're going through, we've been through something like this before. A lot like this."

"What do you mean? When?"

"Your birthday party," he hissed. "The night you poisoned everybody with wolfsbane."

That made Lydia freeze up and realize, with horror, that Stiles was right.

* * *

Jennifer was staring out of the window, trying to keep calm, when she heard some movement behind her. Derek was moving to sit himself up.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" she asked him.

Derek kept moving until he was firmly in a sitting position. "I have to find the others. They think I'm dead."

"Maybe that's a good thing," she said. "You know how many characters in literature use false deaths to their advantage?" That got Derek to give her a small smile. "Ever read Le Miz? Tale of Two Cities? Romeo and Juliet?"

"They need to know," he mumbled to her.

"Do you have any idea how bad you look?" Derek looked at her. "You're like one, giant, open wound. I'm not entirely sure that you aren't really dead." Jennifer then bent down to get another look at his injury. "Uh, you don't have any kind of bandages or first-aid anywhere. I looked."

"I usually don't need em," he said softly to her.

"Then, how do we fix you up?"

"Time." He then looked away from her. "You shouldn't be here."

"Why's that?"

Derek looked back at her. "Because you don't know me. You don't know anything about me."

Jennifer narrowed her eyes a bit. "Maybe I just have a good feeling about you."

"It should be a bad one. Everyone around me…everyone gets hurt."

"I've been hurt before."

Derek shook his head. "Not like this."

Jennifer then moved closer to be level with his eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before they leaned in for a soft kiss. They broke apart for a moment before they leaned in again for a stronger, more passionate one. Jennifer then pushed Derek into the bed as they started to lightly make out. They started to lightly caress one another and got lost in the feeling of each other's skin. As they went on, Derek's wounds started to close themselves up though he didn't seem to notice it. All that was on his mind was being with the first person who made him feel at peace for the first time in a long time.

* * *

Boyd was sitting on the bed in his room, just staring out at nothing when the clock radio suddenly turned on. He went to turn it off but it then switched itself back on. A voice then started talking asking when was the last time that somebody saw a girl. A voice then answered that they didn't know. A voice that Boyd recognized as his own, from when he was younger. He remembered this. It was after Alisha had disappeared on the ice at the rink and he had been talking with an investigator about it. He didn't want to listen to this anymore and switched it off again. But it turned back on again and the conversation kept playing. He then ripped the clock away from the table and pulled the plug out. But then the radio turned on in his hand and the conversation kept playing. Boyd stared at it as his young voice asked if it was his fault. If she was really dead.

"Is she dead?" Boyd muttered. "Is it my fault? Alisha?" He then went and threw the radio to the floor. He then got up and stomped on it and it shattered to pieces.

Boyd then headed out to the front desk where it was still empty. He looked around and his eyes locked on the safe on the floor.

* * *

Allison was moving as fast as she could for Scott's room. The image of Ethan with that handsaw playing rigorously on her mind and it was inspiring scary thoughts about what Scott could be up to now. She caught sight of the door but stopped short when she noticed that it was ajar.

"Scott?" she called out before she pushed it all the way open slowly. "Are you in here?"

She then stepped in and found that the room was completely empty.

* * *

Lydia was walking off and Stiles was right at her heels.

"Lydia, I'm sorry," he huffed as he kept in pace with her. "I didn't mean that you're trying to kill people. Okay, I just meant, that maybe, you're somehow involved, in getting people to kill themselves. Which now that I say that out loud sounds really terrible. So, maybe I should stop talking."

But Lydia stopped. "Stiles, you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Lydia was hearing a baby crying. And a woman trying to calm it down and tell it to stop. She was over a drain. The voices seemed to be coming from it and she kneeled down in front of it.

"Lydia, what do you hear?" Stiles asked her as he watched her get down.

"A baby crying," she muttered. "Here. And a woman. I hear water running."

"Water?" Stiles said before his eyes narrowed as he looked out.

Lydia looked back at him. "What?"

"I hear water too."

Lydia then narrowed her eyes. She pointed off at one of the rooms. "In there."

Stiles knew whose room that was.

At that moment, Boyd was in the bathroom of his motel room, filling the tub with water. He then started to fall back inside with the heavy safe holding his body down. Stiles and Lydia ran on inside and quickly found Boyd's feet sticking out of the tub. Stiles ran to try and drain the water but couldn't.

Stiles grit his teeth. "He blocked it. Blocked the drain with something. I can't get to it."

"What do we do?" she gasped. Stiles then moved to try and lift the safe off of Boyd. He looked to be having trouble. "Is he dead?" she asked.

"No, not yet," Stiles hissed. "He's fighting me. Trying to keep me from pulling this thing off him."

"How long can a werewolf stay underwater?"

"You think I know that?" Stiles spat. He kept pulling until he lost his grip and fell back into the heater and cried out in pain. But the pain triggered something. The memory of when Ethan fell on the heater when Stiles fought to keep him from killing himself. "The heater. Ethan, he came out of it when he touched the heater."

"What?" Lydia cried.

"It's heat. Heat does it. Fire. We need to burn him!"

"He's under water!" she shouted at him.

"Yeah, I'm aware of that!" Stiles cried.

But Lydia gasped. "Wait, the bus. On the bus. They'll have emergency road flares. They run on oxidizers. They can burn underwater."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. Go!" she shouted at him.

Stiles then broke into a hard run out the door. Lydia looked down and saw that Boyd's grip on the safe was loosening. She moved to try and pull the safe off of him but it was too heavy for her. She started to back away nervously as she watched Boyd slowly begin to run out of air before she felt a chill at her spine. She looked over at the beds in the room and started to kneel down. She lifted the cover at the foot of the bed and found that Isaac was underneath. He looked freaked.

Stiles saw that the bus was just ahead and he didn't want to waste time and make a round a bout course for the stairs. He got to the rail and jumped down from the second floor landing. He landed on the ground but his foot landed on some ice cubes that were scattered about and he slipped face first into a puddle of the ice melted on the pavement. Stiles groaned and forced himself to his knees through the pain. He looked down at the water and his eyes widened. Staring back at him wasn't his reflection. It was the reflection of a wolf. His eyes went to its eyes and watched as they burned bright gold at him. He raised his hand to it and the reflection had a man-wolfish paw come into view that mimicked his hand's movement. He felt a surge of heat burn through his eyes and he started to shake his head. The wolf's reflection was gone and his own was back. Stiles then moved to his feet and ran off for the bus as fast as he could. He got to the driver's seat and started to look around until he saw an emergency kit and saw there were three flares. He pulled out two of them and ran back for the motel. He wiped some sweat that ran into his eye as he ran in the direction of the room. He braced himself and jumped to hook onto the railing before climbing over and dropping onto the second floor landing. He then moved into the room and tapped Lydia's shoulder startling her.

He held the flares up to her. "I got them," he panted. He moved to wipe some more sweat from his heated face with his sleeve before trying to open the flare. "Uh, how do I do this?"

"The cap," she said. "It's like a match." Stiles then tried to ignite it but nothing was happening. "Stiles!"

"Yeah, I'm trying," he said still striking it.

But then it ignited and Stiles quickly went for the tub and jammed it right at Boyd's arm. As soon as it made contact, Boyd quickly shot himself up and Stiles fell back in surprise. The safe was thrown off as Boyd shot up with a pained growl. Stiles got to his feet and saw Boyd coughing as he tried to get his breathing back to normal.

Lydia tapped his shoulder. "Isaac, he's underneath the bed. He looks pretty out of it."

Stiles went over and lifted the cover to see Isaac huddled under there looking freaked out. "Hey Isaac, got something here for you." He then took the other flare and jammed it right for his chest.

* * *

Allison came to find them all in the room and noticed the state that they were all in. She told them that Scott wasn't in his room. After Boyd and Isaac told them that they were alright, they left to try and find him.

"Where could Scott be? He could be anywhere," Allison said as they started to head down the stairs.

"It must be happening to him too," Stiles muttered.

"It has to be, but didn't you say that there was another flare on the bus?" Lydia asked him.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I'll get it."

But he didn't go too far as they all just stopped walking. In the center of the parking lot was Scott. He was standing there and had the flare in his hand, already ignited. He looked dripping wet.

"Scott?" Allison said as they moved in closer. But Scott was just looking down. "Scott?" Allison tried again.

But then a smell hit all three of them. It was the smell of gasoline. After seeing the empty tank on the ground next to him did they realize that Scott wasn't standing in a puddle of water, but in gasoline that he poured there and on himself. They all looked at him in frightful horror.

"There's no hope," Scott choked out.

"What do you mean Scott?" Allison whispered to him. "There's always hope."

Scott shook his head. "Not for me. Not for Derek."

Allison began to cry. "Derek wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault."

"It was my fault. Every time I try to fight back, people keep getting hurt. But…when I try not to fight, people end up dying. Derek…and Stiles," he said looking over to his friend who was staring horrified back at him. "You both tried to warn me but I didn't want to listen. I let Deucalion lure me there. Lure us all there. It's because of me that Derek died. It was because of me that…Stiles almost died."

Stiles stepped forward. "Alright, just wait Scott. Think. This isn't you, okay. Someone is inside your head telling you to do this."

"What if it isn't? What if it is just me? What if doing this is actually the best thing that I could do for everyone else?" he asked to all of their horror.

Lydia started to feel numb all over, Allison was starting to cry and Stiles felt the heat he'd been feeling all night suddenly drop to sub-zero. Scott wasn't looking like he was in a daze. His eyes were staring back at the three of them with clear focus. But his tone sounded so...broken. Defeated. He actually seemed to be believing in this. That made this even more horrifying for them.

"Scott...you're wrong," Stiles said with his voice cracking a bit. "Okay? Derek isn't dead. I know it. I can feel it and…even if he was, it wasn't your fault. He chose to be there. We all chose to go there."

"To go after me," Scott said back to him. "To not let me and Isaac get taken by the Alphas because of my stupid idea. To stop me from getting me and Isaac from falling into an obvious trap." His tone got more harder. Angrier, but not at Stiles or any of them, at himself. "That's how it always is, isn't it? It started back at that night, when we got bitten." He locked eyes with Stiles. "Don't you remember how it was before then? We weren't popular. Weren't good in lacrosse. We were nothing. We weren't important…we were no one." he gasped out. "Then, suddenly, all that changed. But I didn't take it seriously, not like you did. You were always there, trying to show me, trying to help me, and I didn't care. I never cared. I just did the things I wanted, how I wanted…and somebody always paid for it. Someone got hurt, and I keep doing it. I keep getting people hurt." Scott's face started to tear up a bit. "Maybe it might be better, for everybody…if I just go back to being nothing. No one." He then raised the flare up higher as he looked down at it flame.

Stiles then took a step forward. "Scott, just listen to me. You're not no one. You never were. Scott, you're my best friend. My brother," his voice was nearly cracking as tears started to slide from his eyes. "And thinking that everything might be better without you, that's not true." Stiles moved another step and got Scott to look away from the flare's flame. "You do care. Scott, you've cared more than any one of us did. You always have. You're the one that can't stand to see anyone get hurt, even if they deserve it." Stiles took another step forward. "That night, who knows what would've happened if you didn't try to go there to Deucalion? If we actually did go through with our plan. Maybe we would've lost more of us, or even all of us. If that's the case…then you saved us, don't you see? We need you. I need you. Okay?" Stiles then looked down and then stepped on into the puddle of gasoline. Lydia and Allison moved to try and stop him but he held his hand out to stop them before fully stepping in. "But, if you really think that this is the best thing for you to do, then you'll have to take me too. Because I'm with you, for better or worse, ever since the beginning, and I'll be here with you at the end."

Scott was now crying harder as he raised his head to look at Stiles who was staring back unflinchingly. He could see it, plain and true. Stiles was fully prepared to go out with him like this if that was what he really wanted. Both the girls were watching the two of them with scared and heart wrenching looks on their faces. Stiles slowly reached for the flare, his eyes firmly locked with Scott's. Scott didn't make any moves to stop Stiles and his friend grabbed the flare from him and then tossed it far off to the side. Scott was starting to cry harder and Stiles started to move in to hug him. But Lydia's eyes fell on the flare as it suddenly started to roll on the ground as if an invisible hand gave it a push. It was rolling right for the gas.

"No!" she cried as the flare reached the edge.

The gas started to ignite and Lydia ran and tackled the two of them out of the way just one second before the spot they had been standing in erupted into a high roaring fire. Lydia turned to look at the flames when her eyes widened. She saw a hooded cloaked figure in the flames. For a second, she managed to see a pale and scratched up face before the flames flickered out. The Darach.

* * *

The next morning, Coach Finstock boarded the bus to find Scott, Stiles, Allison, Lydia, Isaac and Boyd all in there sleeping.

"I don't want to know," he said waking them up. "I really don't want to know. In case you missed the announcement, the meet's cancelled. So, we're heading home. Pack it in."

After the fire, Scott went to stand underneath the shower to wash the gasoline off him and they dragged themselves to the bus to try and get some sleep. As cramped as it was, they actually felt more at peace than they had all night. Even if they were feeling a bit stiff right now.

Ethan moved up to them and took a seat near Scott. "I don't know what happened last night but I'm pretty sure that you saved my life."

"Actually, I saved your life," Stiles said to him from behind. "Not that it matters, minor detail," she shrugged away.

Ethan rolled his eyes but kept up his resolute. "Fine, whatever. So, I'm going to give you something. We're pretty sure Derek's still alive."

Scott's eyes widened as he looked back at Stiles who didn't seem so surprised. He realized that Stiles really hadn't just been saying that just for him. He had truly believed it. Derek wasn't dead. But Ethan wasn't done.

"But, he killed one of ours. Since Derek is an Alpha, that means one of two things can happen. Either he joins our pack."

"Or loses his own," Scott muttered.

"Or Kali goes after him," Ethan corrected him. "And we kill him. That's the way it works."

"Wow, your little code of ethics there is sort of barbaric," Stiles said at him.

Ethan was about to get up but Scott moved to stop him. "Wait, one more thing. Why does Deucalion want Derek to kill Stiles?"

"He doesn't want Derek to kill him. He never did."

Stiles' eyebrows went up. "Uh, really? Because we kind of got that impression when he pointed at me, said to Derek 'Kill him' and you held me up for him to take his shot."

Ethan sighed. "His little ultimatum to Derek was just theatre to get under Stiles' skin. Deucalion didn't actually want Derek, or me, Aiden, Kali or Ennis to kill you."

"So Deucalion just wants to freak me out? That's what he went through all this for?" Stiles wasn't buying it. There had to be more to it than that.

"How about you let me finish?" he said making Stiles shut up. "Deucalion doesn't want any one of us or Derek to kill you. He wants to do it himself." At that Scott's jaw dropped and Stiles eyes narrowed, both in fear.

"What…why?" Scott asked him.

"For his power," Ethan answered simply. "It's the main reason he wanted to come to Beacon Hills. The stories we heard about Stiles and what he could do. He was using Derek to try and force Stiles to tap into and bring out his full power to the surface. Didn't want to risk suffering the backlash from it himself." Deucalion had planned for Derek to be the one to take the hit when that happened and instead, it had been him and his brother who had taken it. Ethan then went to unconsciously rub his shoulder at the spot that Stiles had thrown him and Aiden into that stone pillar.

"Wait," Stiles said leaning in closer to him tensely. "What are you talking about? What power?"

"I'm not sure I really understand all of it myself, but I do know one thing." Ethan then looked Stiles in the eye. "No one has ever forced me and my brother to separate like you did, and so easily. No one. And now that he's seen it for himself, Deucalion will only try harder to make you bring it out completely. Once that happens, he'll be there to take it."

Ethan then got up and went to go sit next to Danny. Stiles moved up to sit next to Scott as they went to look at each other and wonder what was going on? Scott was stumped. Yeah, sure Stiles was a natural when it came to being a werewolf right from the very beginning but he didn't see that Stiles had anything more than any other werewolf did. Well, now that he thought about it, Stiles was the only one of them that didn't try and kill themselves last night. He seemed to keep his mind his own, pretty much. That might've been a little odd since not even an Alpha like Ethan was able to fight off whatever this Darach had done to them.

"Stiles...what's he talking about?" Scott asked him. "Why would Deucalion want you? What power does he think you have?"

Stiles narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, flashes came back to him. Of the time he broke the mountain ash line, the look he got when he told Derek about seeing foreign memories by touch, of Cora's sudden asking of his healed leg wound from an Alpha, and of him forcing the twins from being fused together. Then there was last night. Now that Stiles thought about it, why was he the only one that didn't try to off himself? Even Ethan fell prey to the Darach trying to get into their heads but he kept his mind about himself. _Well mostly_ , he quickly had to remind himself. There was still those weird hallucinations they all had, including himself. But, he didn't have to be burned to snap out of it. Yet, Stiles remembered that he had been burning up a fever all last night. Maybe that's why. The heat that he had been giving off must've immunized him from the Darach's full power. His body must've been heating itself as some kind of supernatural defense mechanism. But why on only him and not the others too? What the hell was he?

"I don't know," was all Stiles could honestly mumble to both Scott's and his own question.

Lydia settled her back into the chair as Coach started to get closer as he walked the aisle. Her eyes were then drawn to a spot on his shirt just below his whistle. It looked…like a purple spot. A familiar shade of purple.

"Coach, can I see that for a second?" Lydia didn't wait for a response as she reached for the Coach's whistle and took it off his neck.

"Okay, hey, I'm going to need that back," he said to her. Lydia then went to sit in front of the boys.

"Lydia, what's wrong?" Allison asked her.

Lydia just went and blew on the whistle but covered the top hole with her hand. When she extended it, it was covered in purple dust. "Wolfsbane."

Stiles shared a horrified look with Scott before turning back to the girls. "So…every time Coach blew the whistle on the bus. Me, Scott, Isaac, Boyd-"

"And Ethan," Lydia added.

"We all inhaled it," Scott finished.

"You were all poisoned by it," said Allison.

Stiles glared at the whistle. "So that's how the Darach got in our heads. That's how he did it," he mumbled angrily. Stiles then grabbed it from Lydia before he went to open the window.

Coach saw what he was about to do. "Hey, hey! Stilinski!" he shouted a second before Stiles threw the whistle out onto the pavement just a moment before the bus started to drive them all off.

As they were driving off, one thing was clear to them all. The Darach wasn't just after the Alpha Pack. He was gunning for all of them too.

Allison took a moment to look over at Scott calmly looking at the window with Stiles reading a vocabulary list out to him, helping him study. He was calmly answering Stiles' questions with his eyes out on the scenery. Allison saw that Scott seemed to be looking much more calmer now then he had when she first got on the bus. Stiles seemed to have healed Scott's inner turmoil where the rest of them couldn't. She couldn't help but think that Stiles, while he was a jerk to her, was onto something. She still cared a great deal about Scott. Loved him. But, if she truly did, then maybe it would be for his own good to love him only as a friend. Him saying all those things last night about how he didn't care or take things as seriously as he should, that might have been because of her and the guilt of it all nearly made Scott kill himself. Maybe there such a thing as fate like Scott believed. They were supposed to be in each other's lives, just not together. Besides...she was starting to feel a certain pull towards someone else. Her eyes then moved over to where Isaac was sitting. Almost like...fate, Isaac turned around and looked back at her.

* * *

Chris Argent stepped into the hospital room where he stared at the old man looking out the window from the wheelchair that he was confined to. That man being his father Gerard.

"Twice in a month," Gerard moved to spin his chair so that his son could look perfectly at him as his nose and mouth were leaking black goo. "Should I be flattered?" he asked him before he went and moved a tissue to wipe the fresh goo off his face.

Chris put his hands into his pockets and started to step into the room. "1977. Alexander Argent checked into the Glen Capri Motel for a one night stay. In Room 217 he used a shotgun to blow out the back of his skull. The autopsy report noted an unusual animal bite in his side."

"If you already have all the information then what do you want from me?" his father calmly asked him.

"I want to know the Alpha that bit him," he answered. "I want his name."

Gerard went and smiled up at him. "Deucalion."


	13. Currents

Chapter 13: Currents

The hospital was a madhouse. Everywhere you looked there were orderlies and nurses running around or someone seriously injured sitting about or leaning against a wall groaning. Melissa McCall was helping an orderly wheel in another patient on a gurney.

"Okay, keep pressure on it. The doctor is on her way," she gently told the woman on the gurney as she held the bloody wound above her waist. Melissa then began yelling. "And does anyone know where Dr. Hilyard is?!" She helped move the gurney for the elevator and then turned around to see Scott walking in with a bag of food in his hand. "Oh, thank God," she mumbled before going over to him. "I'm starving," she said taking the bag from him. Scott just stared at her before she realized what she did, or didn't do, and turned around to hug him. "I'm sorry. Thank you for bringing me dinner."

Scott smiled as he separated from her. "Is everything okay?" he said looking around at all the activity.

"Except for half the accident victims in a ten car pile-up being rerouted here from downtown and the E.R. attending not answering any of his pages, yeah, I'm okay," she said all in one breath.

Scott narrowed his eyes. "What does not answering pages mean?"

"It means that nobody can find him. So now we have to wait for the on-call to get here."

A woman started to walk up to them. "Miss?" she cringed.

"Yes?" Melissa asked her.

"Excuse me, can I kind of please have something for the pain?"

They looked at her to see that there were parts of her blouse that were dark with blood spots.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I know it must hurt but actually giving you something could complicate things. So," she then started to help her into a chair. "We really just need to wait for the doctors."

"Okay," the woman cried.

Scott could smell who much pain the woman was in. His mother asked the clerk how much longer they had to wait for the doctor and learned it was ten minutes. So Scott decided to sit with the woman and try to help her, just like Stiles always does for him.

"Uh, you know, I think that I read online that sometimes human contact can help with pain."

The woman nodded and Scott went to reach for the woman's arm. He checked to see that she wasn't looking before he began to siphon off pain from her and into himself. He saw the woman's shoulders settle and her face actually softened as she looked over at him gratefully. Scott was happy to actually make someone feel better for a change. The night at the Glen Capri had really gotten to him and seeing this woman look at him like this was starting to show him that what had been running through his mind about himself was starting to be quite wrong. Every one of them had been a little shaken from that night, though it helped when they saw that Derek really was alive and back at his loft, fully healed. Stiles for one both joked with and warned Derek that if he made them go through that a third time then he would make sure he actually stayed dead.

"Someone…someone help me!"

That made Scott snap free from his thoughts as he looked over at the entrance to see Ethan helping Danny into the hospital. Scott quickly got up and moved to help Danny.

His mother pointed to an empty chair for them to take him. "Okay, gentle, gentle, gentle!" she said as they tried to gently sit him down.

Scott then moved to grab at Ethan. "What did you do to him?!" he spat.

Ethan pushed his hand away. "Nothing. He said he was having chest pains and trouble breathing but it…just getting worse."

Melissa tried feeling at Danny's chest and throat but then started shaking her head. "This is not good," she mumbled before moving to yell at the desk clerk. "How much longer on Dr. Hilyard?" But the nurse was shaking her head. She then looked back at the boys. "His larynx has shifted to the side. I think it's a tension pneumothorax."

Just then, Danny threw himself forward and then started vomiting all over the floor. Scott's eyes went to it and noticed a certain flower that he was barfing up. It was the same one that Stiles had spewed out himself though it looked like it was actual petals and stems from it.

"Mistletoe," Ethan muttered out loud.

* * *

A woman was driving in her car when she suddenly came up to heavy traffic.

"It's Dr. Hilyard again," she said to her car's speakerphone. "Can you let Melissa know that it might be more than 10 minutes? I think there's an accident up ahead."

"Yeah, a ten car pile-up," the clerk said. "Which is why we need you here."

"I'm going as fast as I can," Hilyard said to her.

She then moved to try and make a detour and circle around the accident. The traffic was a little lighter but she was more tenser as she tried to hurry to the hospital. As she drove, her eyes noticed something flying about at her windshield. It looked like a moth. She turned on the wipers to send it away and it did. However, another one then started to make its way in through the air conditioning vent. She kept driving until her eyes caught the moth flying just in front of her face.

"How did you get in?" She then tried to swat it away.

But then more moths started to fly in through the vents and they were flying about at her. They were starting to block her field of vision and her car started to wobble about. As she kept trying to push the moths away, she looked up at the rear view mirror and screamed when the sight of a hideous scratched up face appeared and hissed at her.

* * *

Melissa started to wheel Danny into the operating room with Scott and Ethan following right behind her.

"Can you two please go back to the waiting room?" she asked them but they just kept her following her until she moved Danny to his spot.

"Where are the nurses and the doctors? Where is everyone?" Ethan frantically asked her.

"It's a full house tonight. They're tending to other patients," she explained to him.

"Okay, well, mom how can we help?" Scott asked.

"Honey, you can't. His lung is collapsed. His heart is being pushed against his chest cavity, so-"

Scott's face fell. "He's gonna die, isn't he?"

She looked over at her son's face and her own's hardened. "No. No, he's not. Okay, Scott, you grab the tape," she said to him before turning to Ethan. "You grab those scissors and cut his shirt open." As they raced to do what she said, Melissa went over and grabbed a large syringe. "Okay," she muttered.

"Mom, he's not breathing," Scott said with a cracked voice.

"I know, I know."

She then moved to pierce his lung with the syringe and then started to run a small tube into him in order to gently let air out so that he would be able to breathe. Danny was starting to settle and they could hear the sound of him steadily breathing again as his face softened and he no longer looked like he was in pain. That got all of them to breathe lighter as well.

Danny opened his eyes and looked up at her. "Thank you."

"No problem," Melissa smiled down on him. She then noticed Scott and Ethan looking intensely at her. "What?"

"That was awesome," Scott said completely mystified. Ethan nodded.

"It was no problem, you know? It wasn't a big deal," she said dismissively.

* * *

Scott was leaving the hospital and just made it to his bike when Ethan ran and caught up to him. He was holding his hands up to show that he came in peace.

"I know you're not going to believe me but I didn't do anything."

Scott actually did believe that, considering that something similar happened to his friend a short time ago thanks to mistletoe. But, that didn't mean he believed that Ethan was in the clear. "All I know is that the minute that you got here, you went for Danny. And your brother went for Lydia."

Ethan shook his head. "We're not gonna hurt them."

"Why should I believe you?" Scott shot back.

"Because we knew one of them was gonna be important to you, and now we know it's Lydia."

"Me? I thought that you came here for Stiles?"

" _Deucalion_ came here for Stiles. _We_ came here for you."

Scott wondered what that meant but didn't get much time when his eyes were drawn to a car's headlights that were darting left and right as the car wasn't moving straight. He narrowed his eyes at it just before it went and crashed into a parked car. Scott ran over to see if the driver was okay but opened the door to see that the car was empty. There didn't seem to be any sign of anyone but he froze when he noticed something.

"What is it?" Ethan asked when he noticed the look Scott had on.

Scott bent down and picked up a dead moth from the driver's seat.

* * *

The parking lot was now filled with police and lit up with red and blue siren lights. The Sheriff had pulled Melissa, Scott and Stiles, who Scott had quickly called, off to the side.

"Hang on, hang on," the sheriff muttered. "They were both in the car?"

"No, dad they're trying to tell you that it was two separate kidnappings, okay? Two doctors, both of them gone."

"So, whose car is this?" he asked Stiles.

It was Melissa who answered. "Dr. Hilyard. The on-call doctor. The E.R. attending is the one that never made it in."

Stiles was nodding and Scott was sharing a look with his mother. All of this was noted by the Sheriff. It seemed like the three of them seemed to understand something that he couldn't see. With what he saw in Stiles room a few nights ago, and what he learned on his own, it looked like there was some kind of deranged serial killer that thought they were some kind of magician on the loose. The way the three of them were being with all of this, he had a feeling that these new disappearances were connected. But, he couldn't say anything yet, not until he knew exactly what to say and what to ask.

"Okay," the sheriff breathed. "Why don't I focus on your story first?" he asked Melissa before turning to their sons. "Boys, give us a second?"

Scott and Stiles nodded before moving off to the side to talk in private.

"These are definitely sacrifices, right?" Scott asked him.

Stiles nodded. "Yeah. It's a possible one that Deaton mentioned to me. Healers."

"What about Danny? He threw up mistletoe."

"Wait, you mean like me?"

Scott shook his head. "No. Yours was watered down into some kind of dust. Danny actually threw up flower leaves and petals."

"You're saying that the Darach wanted Danny dead?"

"Yeah. And if he hadn't been with Ethan he probably would've died. But, Danny's not a healer."

Stiles didn't understand it either. He started to open his mouth when he felt a shift in his dad's scent. He narrowed his eyes in his direction which Scott noticed so he turned around to look back at the Sheriff who was on the phone.

"Stiles, you hear that?"

"Yeah," Stiles grunted. "They found a body."

* * *

The body was that of the E.R. doctor. There was already a small crowd of people watching as police and forensics taped off the area. Among those people were Deucalion and Aiden. They were talking amongst themselves about this under the watch of Chris Argent who was also there, hidden at the side.

* * *

At Derek's loft, he was resting when the alarm started blazing all of a sudden. He quickly got up and shut it off before he tried to listen for what set it off.

Cora calmly walked up to him. "What does it mean?" She wasn't looking at him, but over his shoulder.

Derek turned and saw that his patio window was now tagged with a familiar triangular triskele. He looked at it with a chill running up his spine. "It means they're coming," he grimly told his sister. "Tonight."

* * *

Stiles took his evidence board and made some additions to it grimly. He then walked over to his desk and picked up the glass jar that he kept the moth that Scott had found in the doctor's car last night. He focused on recognizing the scent that it was giving off. It seemed that the Darach was getting more inventive. Probably to make up for not getting his three sacrifices at the Glen Capri.

He was leering down to get a better look at the moth when he caught the reflection in the glass jar of his face. Suddenly, what was reflected in the jar wasn't human eyes but a wolf's and there was dark hair around them. Stiles then dropped the jar in a panic as he rushed to feel at his face to find that it was still normal. He then went to pick up and then lay the jar down next to a list that he was composing of weird events and things that he had found himself able to do. It was titled, My Powers? Now that he knew that Deucalion wanted him, he was trying to divide his attention between the Darach and himself. What made him so special that the head of an Alpha Pack would go through so much trouble to find him?

* * *

Melissa slowly woke up but gasped when she saw her son and Isaac sleeping off in a corner of her room. "Really boys?" she muttered her herself. She then straightened herself up and then shouted. "Boys!" That made them wake up and stand up. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Uh, we were watching over you," said Isaac.

"We wanted to make sure you weren't the third sacrifice," Scott added.

She narrowed her eyes. "But both of you were asleep."

Scott looked over at Isaac. "You were on watch last."

Now Isaac looked at him. "What are you talking about? You were on watch last."

"No," Scott shook his head. "You were on watch last."

"I might've been on watch last," Isaac admitted.

Melissa rolled her eyes. "My heroes. Wait, didn't you say that they were all doctors? I mean, I haven't had an M.D. recently attached to the end of my name, so I think I'm in the clear."

"Yeah, but it could just come under any kind of healer mom. And you were definitely a healer last night," he said with both worry and pride.

"Yeah? Well, I'm not gonna be anyone's human sacrifice today so both of you get your butts to school."

* * *

Jennifer Blake walked into the Chemistry classroom and bared down on the students with a smile.

"Good morning. As you all know, Mr. Harris is still missing, I mean, sick," she quickly tried to correct herself. "Anyway, I'm filling in while we all hope and pray for a more qualified substitute to take my place. Okay, so let's get started, shall we?"

Ms. Blake was looking over at Scott and Stiles who were looking straight back at her. It was no secret now that she knew about them just as they knew about her helping Derek while they had been away. And they were also able to guess that there was more to it from how Derek tried to not talk too much of the issue but Ms. Blake's honey sweet scent had been all over him when they came back. It was plainly obvious on what else had happened. Something they found weird, to be honest. Derek and their English teacher?

As they sat there in class, Scott was trying not to think about it as he watched Ms. Blake, but Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. He didn't know why, but he was feeling something…off with how Ms. Blake seemed to be handling things especially with how she had been thrown into them. Not wrong, but off. But he shook it out of it. He had too much to think about without worrying about Derek's odd romantic dilemmas.

"Hey," Stiles whispered over to Scott. "My dad said that the E.R. attending wasn't strangled but did die from asphyxiation. They just don't know how."

"Do you think the on-call doctor could still be alive?" Scott asked trying to have some hope.

"I don't know," Stiles breathed out. "But Scott, there's got to be at least 20 other doctors in that hospital, at least, you know? Any one of them could be next." Scott nodded to let him know that he understood their problem. They couldn't keep watch and protect them all.

But Scott felt his phone vibrate. He took it out and saw that it was Deaton and ducked down to the side to answer it. "Hey doc. Sorry, but I'm in class right now. Can I call you back later," he whispered into his phone.

"Unfortunately, no. I honestly thought I might never have to burden you like this, but I'm afraid at the moment, you're my only hope." Deaton was now looking down at the moth he had grasped in his hand. "I'm going to be taken and I need you to find me."

At that moment, the call cut off. Deaton then looked over at his windows which were now covered with moths. Gathering to block out the light.

"Doc, doc, doc? What's happening?" Scott tried to call after him but nothing was turning up. He looked over at Stiles to see that, from the grim look on his face, he had just heard everything.

* * *

Isaac and Boyd stepped into the loft and spotted Derek by the stairs.

"Go back to school," he told them.

"Well, actually, we can't," Isaac said as they kept moving on in. "Boyd and I are incredibly and unbelievably sick."

"With what, brain damage?" Derek spat sarcastically at them.

"Well, I have a migraine and Boyd here has explosive diarrhea."

Boyd rolled his eyes. "We're here to protect you," he said getting to the point.

Derek then started to climb down the steps. "You're here to protect me? Well, I'm in trouble then."

"Actually, Boyd here came up with a plan." Isaac said.

Boyd nodded. "Yeah, I thought about the time Gerard had me and Erica locked up. Tied up with those electrical wires pushing current through us." He then started to unzip the bag he brought to reveal wires and cables. "I was wondering how we could do something like that, but a bigger scale." They quickly got to work on spreading water throughout the floor of the loft. "In a pool of electrified water it can take up to 50 milliamps to kill a normal human. Less than the power it takes to turn on a light bulb."

"That's comforting," Derek mumbled at them.

"If we disable the circuit interrupter in the building's electrical room, then the current will keep coming," Boyd continued. "And anyone that steps foot in here, they'll get a pretty shocking surprise."

Isaac smirked at that. "Especially someone who's barefoot."

* * *

Scott practically jumped out of Stiles jeep before he had a chance to even put it in park and then ran into the clinic. Scott threw the front door open and saw that Stiles dad and a deputy were already inside.

"How did you know?"

"Stiles called me as soon as you left the school," he told him. "I'm sorry but your boss' car is still here and the back door was wide open." Scott then went to sit down on a nearby chair as the Sheriff moved closer to him. "Scott…I'm going to need you to tell me everything."

And then the door opened again and Stiles stepped inside to look upon the scene before him. "What I miss?" he asked the room.

They moved off for Deaton's office and Stiles nose immediately flared. The scent in the room, he recognized it. He had only marked it this morning. He shared a look with Scott and they quickly accepted that the Darach was behind this abduction, for sure. The sheriff asked them both questions but they couldn't really give him much.

"Alright," Stiles dad told them after they were done. "We're gonna do everything we can. Right now, the best thing you can do is go back to school."

Scott then pointed off for the kennel and they walked on in and Scott closed the door behind him.

"The scent in there," Stiles said immediately. "The same as the moth you found in the doctor's car. Deaton's the third sacrifice for the Healers."

Scott nodded. Deaton was a healer, no doubt about that. Given how much he had helped heal him from injuries and poison in the past, he couldn't believe that he didn't think that he would be a possible target. He then spared a look over in the sheriff's direction. "We have to tell him."

Stiles' eyes widened. "You mean, like, _tell him_ tell him? Or tell him something else that isn't telling him what I think you want to tell him?"

"You know what I mean."

"Scott, do you remember how your mom reacted? She didn't look you in the eye for, like a week and flinched every time she did."

"And she got over it," Scott cut in. "And…and it actually made us closer."

Stiles was shaking his head. "I don't know dude. I mean, look at him. Come on, he's completely overwhelmed as it is."

"Yeah, he's overwhelmed because he has no clue what's happening. He's got people dying in his town, the town he's supposed to protect. And it's not his fault that he doesn't know what's happening. Stiles, he's gonna find out sooner or later."

"Yeah, but is now really the right time?"

"Stiles, what if not telling him now gets someone else killed?" Scott argued.

"And what if telling him get _him_ killed, huh?" Stiles argued back. "Look, I get it. Deaton has been like a father to you but this is my _actual_ father, okay. I can't…lose both of my parents, alright? Not both of them."

"Yeah, but Stiles, Deucalion is after you. He used Derek to try and make you bring out, whatever power he thinks you have inside you. What if he tries to go after your dad next? He's going to find out, it's only a matter of time. Take it from me, you don't want your dad to find out the truth by you being shifted in front of him, fighting a monster."

Stiles huffed. "Your mom said the same thing." He then rubbed at his eyes and went to stare down at his feet. Scott's mom had been trying to encourage him to tell his dad when all the sacrifices started but he had been trying to block it all out. Now, Scott had reminded Stiles that there was something else for him to think about, Deucalion's threat on him. The Alpha wanted him dead and they still didn't really understand why. Stiles began to wonder…if something happened to him, and his dad didn't understand why, would he regret not telling him?

Scott noticed the pain that his friend now seemed to be in and he loosened up. Stiles was worrying enough as it was. He probably shouldn't have brought up Deucalion wanting to kill him. "I'm sorry," he said softly to him. "Maybe you're right. We shouldn't say anything right now."

"No," he said finally. "I'm not." He then looked up to see his father through the window of the door. "I'll tell him."

The sheriff bid his deputy goodbye before he caught sight of Scott and Stiles in the cage room from the corner of his eye. It looked like the two of them were having a tense conversation. He was starting to wonder if he should just take a direct approach to finding out just what it was that was going on with those two. That is until there was another visitor at the door.

Scott could feel the anguish Stiles was giving off like it was a runaway hose. "Stiles, it's going to be okay. I'll help you."

Stiles looked up at Scott's soft gaze and he slowly nodded. They then moved for the door and stepped out to find that Stiles' dad was now talking with Ms. Morrell.

"Please, whatever you need, however you can help find my brother." At that, the two werewolves shared a shocked look. Brother? Morrell noticed them. "Will you excuse us for a moment?" she asked the sheriff.

"Of course."

When the two officers stepped out of the clinic, Morrell moved over to them. "Listen closely, both of you. No sheriff, deputy or detective is going to be able to find him."

"You don't have to ask us for help," Scott told her.

"Actually, I'm trying to help you, because if you're going to find my brother, then you need to use the one person who might actually have an ability to seek out the supernatural."

Stiles knew who she was talking about. "Lydia."

* * *

Lydia was in Coach's office with Aiden, making out on his desk. It had become their own personal 'place' to go in between classes and free periods. They were getting really into it when the fire alarm sounded off.

Aiden had to hold his ears to block off the sudden rush of unexpected sound. "Aw, man," he groaned. Lydia sighed as she then started to gather up her stuff. "Where are you going?" he quickly asked her.

Lydia looked from him to the blinking alert light over the door. "It's a fire alarm," she said as if he wasn't realizing what was going on.

"When, in high school, has a fire alarm actually been a real fire?" he asked her incredulously.

Lydia went to caress his cheek. "That's exactly the kind of thing you'd expect two dumbass students to say, just before getting burned alive." Aiden leaned in for a goodbye kiss but Lydia looked over at the door. "You first."

Aiden quickly stole a kiss on her neck before he put his sweater shirt on and made his way out the door. Lydia waited for ten seconds before she grabbed her bag and made her way for the door herself. But, before she could step out, her way was blocked, by Cora.

"You don't have very good taste in guys, do you?" she asked her with a flat voice.

Cora stepped inside and closed the door behind her. Lydia tried to move around her but Cora blocked her way.

"Is there a problem?" she asked the young Hale.

"Yeah," Cora nodded. "Derek would like to kindly ask you to stop seeing Aiden. Which means that if I catch you with him again, I'm not going to pull the fire alarm. I'm going to pull your tongue out of your head."

Lydia smirked at her. First, she couldn't believe that she went to all the trouble of pulling the fire alarm just to stop her making out with a guy. Second, that Cora was actually trying to intimidate her about who she dated. "Sweetheart, my last boyfriend was a homicidal lizard, so, I think I can handle a werewolf." She then moved to leave again but Cora grabbed her wrist. Lydia just glared at her. "Let go." But Cora kept her firm grip and glare on her. "I said-"

"Let go." Cora let go of her and the two girls looked over to see Stiles standing off to the side. He was staring intensely at them. " _I_ said, let go."

Cora caught the hard look in his eyes as well as the stance he was standing in. It was like he was ready to pounce any moment at her if he had to. Cora felt her blood run cold and then quickly let Lydia's hand go. She looked back at Stiles who settled down immediately. She didn't understand why she felt compelled to not do anything that displeased Stiles. It wasn't like the pull to submit that one would get from an Alpha, this was something different.

* * *

The sheriff was leading in his deputies through the hospital as they escorted a new body that they found. Melissa came over to the sheriff as she eyed the covered gurney.

"It's Dr. Hilyard, isn't it?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he mumbled.

"Oh God," she huffed. "Okay, did she have ligature marks around her throat?"

"No. And how exactly do you know about that?" he asked a little harder than necessary.

Melissa swallowed his spite and just gave him a look. "I need you to take a look at the other body with me. I think it's gonna help you find Scott's boss."

The sheriff then stopped. "They told you, didn't they?" He didn't have to say who he was talking about.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Before I got the call," he said making her gaze drop down. "Didn't they?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Come with me," she said before moving off for the morgue.

The sheriff let out a stressed breath out before he walked on after her. They moved into the morgue and she moved to where the body of the E.R. he had found the previous night was.

"The last body we found didn't have any ligature marks on his throat either," he pointed out to her.

"I'm aware of that." She then opened it and rolled it out for them. "The problem with no ligature marks around the neck, is that both doctors were still asphyxiated. So, the question is-"

"How did they suffocate if they weren't strangled?" he finished for her.

"Right." She then moved the sheet off. "Now, take a look at these wrist marks. What do they tell you?" She lifted the doctor's wrist to show that it looked something had dug into them, deeply.

"His hands were tied," said the Sheriff.

"Not just tied. Look how deep they go. I don't think that's just from struggling to get out. I think he was suspended. Hanging like that, that means they would have to keep lifting their bodies up in order to breathe. Eventually, they would lose strength. And they wouldn't be able to lift themselves up. It's how people used to die from crucifixion."

From the way that this person was killed the Sheriff was again reminded about what he read online about druids and sacrificial offerings. "So…you think Deaton is somewhere right now hanging by his wrists?"

"Yeah."

"And when he no longer has the strength to pull himself up to catch a breath, how long before he dies?" he grimly asked.

"Minutes."

Melissa tried to move away but the Sheriff moved off to put his hand to her shoulder. "Melissa, what's happening?"

"I don't know," she said softly.

"Really? I think you know quite a bit. You, and your son, and my son. You three know something about these killings you aren't telling me. I overheard you and Stiles talking at the hospital a week ago. I'm not sure I understood even half of what you two were talking about, but I think it's clear that this has something to do with all the trouble that's been happening in Beacon Hills since the start of this year."

"Putting it lightly," Melissa mumbled as she looked away from him as she went to push the body back into its container and closed the door.

The Sheriff narrowed his eyes at her. "Melissa, please…just tell me what's going on."

She looked down at her feet for a moment. "I can't. At least, not until after you talk to your son."

"Melissa," he tried but she held her hand to him.

She then looked back up at him. "Believe me, I understand what you're feeling right now. Because I went through the same thing with Scott. But if you're going to understand or even believe it, you have to talk to Stiles first. But…let him come to you. Don't try to force it from him. I've tried to talk to him about going to you with everything, and Scott has too. Deep down, I think he wants to tell you…he's just scared."

"Scared? Of what?"

"Of how you'll react," she said a little sadly. "And I think that it might be my fault. When I found out, well, let's just say it won't make any mother highlight moments. Just, wait for him to come to you when he's ready. Right now, I will tell you that when Stiles does tell you, remember that he's still your son; he's a good kid that always tries to do the right thing. And, trust that our sons are the best chance we have of stopping this maniac."

Melissa then left the morgue and the sheriff watched her leave staying where he stood. He looked over at the morgue's containers, some already filled with bodies from whoever was doing this. He didn't understand. How could his son and Scott possibly be their best chance of stopping this? He was only more baffled and nervous than before.

* * *

Scott was searching the halls for Lydia when his phone vibrated. He saw that it was text from Stiles that told him that he had found her. He was about to go and join them when he heard a strange pounding sound. It was going in a rhythm. Scott followed after it and found that it seemed to be coming from the direction of the music room, but it wasn't the sound of any musical instrument that he had heard before. He gently let himself inside to see that the sound was that of a cane slapping against the piano. Deucalion's cane.

"Do you know what a metronome is Scott?" he asked as the young man stepped in and closed the door behind him. "It's a tool to help you maintain a steady rhythm once you've set the tempo. Something tells me the tempo of your life has sped up considerably in the last few hours." The Alpha shrugged. "If you'd like, I could help slow it down to a more manageable pace."

"How?" he asked him.

"By helping you find Deaton," Deucalion answered. He then stood up. "Your heart's pounding. But, it's not fear. It's anger," he said as he slowly approached Scott. "I bet I know what you're thinking. Does he have something to do with Deaton's disappearance?"

"Then you'd lose that bet," Scott mumbled back.

"Oh? And pray tell, what is running through your mind then Scott that has your heart pounding so rigorously?'

"The fact that you want to kill my best friend," Scott said in a near growl.

Deucalion smiled and then nodded. "Hmm…it sounds like dear sweet Ethan has gone on and gotten himself a case of Loose Lips. I'll definitely have to have some words with him about that."

"Why? Stiles never did anything to you."

"Oh Scott, rest assured, it's not personal. Truth be told, I actually have come to admire the young man. Gained a great deal of respect as well, seeing how he's been quick on the trail of the rising rival power in this homey little town."

"Then just leave him alone. Leave us all alone."

Deucalion smirked over at him. "I'm sorry Scott, but, that's just not an option. Not when it comes to him, or you."

"Why?!" Scott said even harder and fiercer than before.

"Tell you what." Deucalion then raised his cane up to hold it across his two raised palms. "If you can take the cane away from me, I'll tell you exactly 'why'. What do you think?"

Scott didn't spare another second. He went to grab for the cane but Deucalion stepped off to the side causing Scott to grab at air. Scott ended up huddled at the floor and Deucalion whacked for his head with his cane but Scott ducked. He flipped himself up and went for it again but the Alpha spun Scott around and pushed him against the piano. Scott then made a jump to try and land behind Deucalion but the man moved forward out of his range. The Alpha whacked again at Scott with his cane but Scott dodged each blow making him only hit air. Deucalion then took off the end piece of his cane to reveal the silver arrow head Scott had seen once before. Scott tried to jump to the side but as soon as he hit the ground, Deucalion went and stabbed him right at his shoulder.

"Impressive," Deucalion said as he started to circle him. "But, you know that you don't have time to waste on trying to gain some juicy gossip. Your main concern, at the moment, should be with the one slashing up innocent people. Praying to ancient gods or gathering herbs or whatever the hell it is that druids are supposed to do. Though, I am part of a pack that wants your friend Derek dead though. Kali is, coming for him. So, there's a difficult choice you're about to face Scott. Someone is going to die tonight. Rest assured, it won't be your best friend. It's not his time just yet. But whether the time is for either Derek or Deaton, that's up to you."

Scott was glaring at Deucalion as he was smugly looking down at him. He could tell that the only thing he would be getting out of him now is what he needed to know to save the one that Deucalion wanted him to save. "Just tell me where he is."

Deucalion shook his head in amusement. "I'll give you a very important clue. Let the current guide you." He then started to walk out of the room but paused just before the door. "Oh, and do give your friend Stiles a message for me. Tell him that I look forward to him realizing his full potential soon. All of your potential."

He then walked off leaving Scott there to try and settle his breathing down.

* * *

Deaton was hanging by his wrists above the floor by a thick rope. The pain was starting to get to him as he tried to keep pulling on the ropes to keep breathing. Though, he was starting to get tired. As he hung suspended there, he was starting to wonder if he made the right call in only telling both Scott and Stiles so little about what was happening. He began to think that if he had laid everything out at the beginning of all of this, would it have made a difference. Not for himself, but for them. Deucalion was after the both of them and they had no idea of why.


	14. Currents part 2

Chapter 14: Currents part 2

Stiles had taken Lydia and Cora into the empty chemistry classroom and began work into trying to tap into whatever it is that made Lydia seek out and find people who were dead or in danger. Needless to say, he was winging it here.

"Alright, Deaton was taken and Ms. Morrell thinks that you're our best bet and finding out where he is. Since we don't know exactly how, we're going to try a few things." Stiles then went and slammed the first object onto the table in front of them.

Lydia narrowed her eyes at it. "A ouija board?"

"Also called a spirit board, and it's worth a shot."

"A shot in the dark," Lydia mumbled.

"Would you just try it, please?" Stiles nearly spat at her. "Let's not forget who this if for. Scott's boss. You know, the guy who has saved our collective asses on more than one occasion."

"Okay, wait, should we all do this?" Cora asked him.

Stiles thought it couldn't hurt. Three sacrifices, three people. It might just better their chances. "Yeah. Yeah, we should." Stiles, Lydia and Cora then moved their hands over the spirit needle. "You guys ready?" he asked them.

"Yeah," both Lydia and Cora said to him.

Stiles settled himself down and focused his vision and attention on the board. "Where's Dr. Deaton?" he lightly asked. He then looked over at Lydia and so did Cora.

Lydia lifted her head and noticed what they were doing. "What?"

"Aren't you going to answer it?" Stiles said.

"Oh, I don't know the answer. I thought we were asking some sort of spirit."

Stiles eyes shot up before he looked over at Cora who leaned in closer to Lydia.

"Well, do you know any spirits?" she asked her.

Lydia stared at her for a second before looking back at Stiles. "Is she for real?"

Stiles took his hand off the needle and furiously ran it over his lips. "You know what…let's try something else." He then put the board away and tried another approach. "Okay," he said before he pulled out a key ring. "These are Deaton's keys for the clinic. Close your eyes, and I'm gonna put em in your hand, and then we're just gonna try and see if you can feel out for his location. It's called Psychometry."

"I'm not a psychic," Lydia tried to point out.

"You're something! Okay?" he roared at her. Stiles was so not appreciating the lack of cooperation from Lydia right now. "Just, Lydia, put out your hand and take the keys."

Lydia huffed out shortly at him but held out her palm nonetheless. Stiles then slowly dropped them into them. "Hmm," Lydia flinched as he did.

"What?" he said to her quickly.

"They're cold," she said.

" _She's_ supposed to be our best chance to find Deaton?" Cora asked him bemused.

Stiles' jaw tightened but he quickly pushed his anger away. "Lydia, concentrate, please?" he asked her roughly. "Trying to save lives here for the love of God." Lydia then took the keys and closed her eyes as she began to concentrate. Stiles and Cora leaned in to watch her more closely as she lightly breathed…until her eyes started to crunch up. Stiles almost jumped at her change of expression. "Yeah, what is it? What do you see?"

Lydia slowly opened her eyes. She waved her closed hand around and shrugged. "Nothing," she finally said.

Cora rolled her eyes and looked over at Stiles who shared in her annoyance at this. Stiles blew at his hair hard before he went and pulled out a pencil. "Okay, new plan."

Lydia looked at the pencil and guessed where he was taking this. "Automatic writing?"

He nodded before handing the pencil to her and opened up her notebook to a blank page. She then began to move the pencil around on it. The two werewolves at her sides leaned in to look at what she was doing but they were confused at the shapes that she was drawing.

"Lydia, what are you doing?" Stiles asked her. "What, what the hell is that?"

"A tree," she answered.

Stiles' jaw dropped. "A tree?" Cora rolled her eyes at him again and Stiles felt his impatience hammering away at him. "Lydia, you're supposed to be writing words. Like in sentences, something like a location. Or something that would tell us or even remotely clue us in on where he is," he started ranting.

"Well maybe you should've said that," Lydia said nonchalantly to him.

"Uh, isn't she supposed to be some kind of genius?" Cora asked pointedly.

"Genius? Yes. Psychic, no," she said nonchalantly to her.

Stiles rolled his eyes. This was getting them nowhere. He was starting to feel that this was all nothing but a waste of time. Morrell obviously miscalculated this move.

"Honestly," Lydia kept going. "I don't know why you're even bothering with me anyway. I mean, especially since it's obvious you should be talking to Danny."

At that, Stiles froze. The way Lydia just said that, out of the blue and calmly, it made his spine tingle. "What? Why Danny?"

"Because." They all looked at the door to see Scott standing there, holding his arm. The smell of blood coming from it started hitting both Stiles and Cora's noses made them stand up stiffly. Scott continued talking. "Last night, he was a target. But it wasn't a sacrifice."

"Scott, what happened?" Stiles asked as he walked over and looked at his arm.

"I'm alright." He went to one of the sinks and began to clean his hand before going over to his bag and pulling his jacket on. "We should get going." Scott felt his phone vibrate and saw he had a text. He read it as he sped out the door.

"Wait," Cora said as they followed him out. "Isn't Danny still in the hospital?"

"Yeah, that's where we're going right now," Stiles said to her.

"I'll meet you there," Scott said to them as he started to break away from there.

"Why?" Stiles quickly asked.

Scott then stopped and showed Stiles his phone. Allison had just sent him a text telling him that she had found something.

* * *

Derek's loft was now completely flooded with water. Derek, Isaac and Boyd were on the high ground as Boyd then took an electric wire and threw it into the water where it started to shoot off sparks.

"Is this gonna kill them?" Isaac asked them.

"I hope so," Boyd mumbled as he gazed hard at the electrified water.

* * *

When Scott got to Allison's apartment, she practically pulled him inside and lead the way into her dad's room.

"So, I was looking through one of his drawers and I found this." He pulled out a blacklight but froze when there was a ping from the outside elevator. "He wasn't supposed to be back yet."

"What do I do? Where do I go?" Scott asked her as he looked around for an escape.

Allison went to the closet and pulled both of them inside. She closed the door behind her and quickly flashed a light as she hushed him. They heard her father come in and move along the room, before moving into his office. Scott and Allison couldn't remember the last time that they had been this close.

"What are you doing?" Allison whispered.

"Nothing," Scott mumbled.

Allison spared a look down. "Part of you is doing something."

Scott noticed and started to feel quite embarrassed. "oh…sorry."

As awkward and embarrassing as this was, it was also dangerous. One, because Allison's father was right outside. Two, because with the way that things were shifting around right now, this could only further complicate them.

"Stop," she said to him.

"I, kind of don't have control over that," he quietly argued.

Allison nodded. "Okay, well, I'll turn around."

"Yeah, totally," Scott said quickly. She turned around but that made them rub against one another and seemed to make them fit together, better. "Uh, Allison?"

"What?"

"That's worse."

Suddenly, the previous awkwardness and nerves seemed to melt away and they were now in danger of laughing about all of this. She turned so that they could face each other again and then found themselves leaning in closer. Just before they could kiss, Scott lost his footing and they nearly fell and made a lot of noise.

"Shh, shh," they both whispered to one another as they went as still as statues, hoping that her father didn't hear any of the shifting sounds just now.

They then heard a door open and close and then Allison peeked out of the closet. She just caught a glimpse of the front door opening and closing and they left the closet to go quickly to his office. She brought Scott right to her father's desk.

"See this map?" she said pointing out what seemed to be an ordinary map of the town. "Last time we were in here talking, my dad put a book over it. There was something about the way he did it. It was like, like he was trying to cover it."

Scott looked the map over but saw that there was not one single marking on it at all. It looked blank. "I don't see anything."

"Yeah, you can't. Until you use this." She then brought out the blacklight from earlier and flashed it over the map. Suddenly, fluorescent markers appeared in random spots. "He's been tracking and marking everything. Cora and Boyd at the bank, the office in the penthouse above us, all of the dead bodies. He has a symbol for where someone was taken and then a different mark for where the bodies are found. See?" The mark for where they were taken being circles and where they are found being squares with an X. "Now here's the scary part. There have been six sacrifices, right? There are twelve markings on this map."

That made Scott's eyes nearly pop. "What? Wait, what does that mean? Did you dad find other bodies and not tell anyone?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. I think…he knows, where the body is going to be found. So, that means that one of these six locations is where Deaton could end up. I mean, it doesn't tell us where he's being kept right now, but-"

"But it's close to figuring it out," he finished for her.

"Yeah."

Scott went and took a picture of the map before they heard the elevator again. Her father was back, again.

Chris came into the apartment and checked his office. He then went to Allison's room and found her on her bed, with a few books out. "Hey," he said drawing her attention to her. "I, I didn't even hear you come in."

"Yeah, I was just doing some homework," she told him.

From behind her father, she saw Scott move quietly passed him as he went for the door. Scott spared her one last look before he vanished from around the corner.

Chris gave his daughter one last smile before he went and left the room, closing the door after him.

* * *

Stiles quietly snuck into Danny's room at the hospital and spotted him sleeping soundly on the bed.

Stiles moved close to him. "Danny? You awake?" He then gave him a small tap, then shook his wrist, and then pushed at him before Danny took a sharp breath and moved a bit. But he still kept his eyes closed. "Wow," Stiles muttered as he got startled a bit. Danny seemed to go back to sleep so Stiles went and grabbed his backpack.

"What are you doing?" Danny mumbled.

Stiles looked back up at him and saw that he seemed to be half-asleep. "I'm not doing anything, Danny. This is just a dream that you're having." He then went back to look into his bag.

"Why are you going through my stuff?" Danny mumbled.

"Right, but only in the dream, remember?" Stiles whispered to him. "Dream, dreaming," he said as he lowered himself again.

"Why would I dream about you going through my stuff?"

"I don't know that Danny." Stiles said starting to get agitated. "It's your dream. Take responsibility for it. Now shut up and go back to sleep." Stiles then moved to start taking things out of the bag when he stumbled on what looked like some big time report. One titled Telluric Currents. "Danny boy, you might've actually found something here."

Stiles quickly left the room with it and called Scott who shared what Allison had found.

"Deaton's got to be at one of the six locations, but they're all over town. I don't know how we can get to all of them fast enough."

"Well, we might not have to," Stiles said to him. "Danny was doing a project on something for Mr. Harris' Physics class. I think it actually means something."

"What project?"

"Something on Telluric Currents."

Scott's jaw dropped. "Did you say currents?"

"Yeah?"

Deucalion had also mentioned currents to him. He told them that he had to let them guide him. This had to be what he was talking about.

* * *

At the loft, the three werewolves were still patiently waiting for Kali and the rest of the Alpha Pack to come and fall for their trap.

They had been quietly waiting with each other but Isaac was getting restless just sitting there, doing nothing. He moved his eyes all over the loft but found something off at the panel by the door. "Hey, isn't the light on that supposed to be on?"

Derek's face tightened as he looked at it. "Yeah."

"What does it mean if it's not?" Isaac asked.

"Someone cut the auxiliary power."

Boyd stiffened up. "Wait, what about the main-"

But the lights in the loft all shut off and they were now left completely in the dark. Derek went and took a step into the water and saw that it was no longer electrified.

"Derek?" Isaac said to him. But Derek just kept walking until he was at the center of the room and faced up at the door. "What do we do now?"

Derek let his red eyes burn. "We fight," he told them.

Almost as soon as he said that, the door started to creak. Someone was outside it and was removing the latches. Isaac and Boyd quickly moved to stand beside Derek just as the door started to move aside and Kali was now in their sights.

She smiled as she started to step in. "Gonna be honest Derek. When Ennis died, I thought to myself, I'd just go for it. Find you and kill you, wherever you stood. But then I remembered how you surround yourself with these teenagers. Hiding behind them. Then I thought, what's a girl got to do to get you alone?" She then looked back at the entrance just as Ethan and Aiden came in with Jennifer Blake in their grasp. Derek glared harder at them which only made Kali's smile wider. "You and me Derek, or they tear her apart. What do you say? Think you can beat me one on one?"

Derek looked to his betas and sent them away. They reluctantly moved off to the side leaving the two of them alone in the center of the room.

Derek then faced Kali down. "I'm gonna rip your throat out. With my teeth."

They both then growled at one another before they charged for one another.

* * *

Scott met up with Stiles and the others at the Animal Clinic where Stiles showed them what Danny had composed.

"Okay, what does this kid's homework have to do with finding Deaton?" Cora asked them.

"Because, it's not just homework," Stiles told her. "It's a project on geomagnetic fields. They flow through the Earth. They can even be affected by lunar phases, all right? Now, look at this," he said pulling out one of the pages to show them. "It's a note from Harris on Danny's proposal." Stiles looked up at Scott. "Do you remember me telling you about Harris being one of my suspects?"

Lydia began to read the note aloud. "I strongly advise you to choose another subject. The ideas here, while innovative and thoughtful, border on Pseudo-science. Not suitable for class."

Scott's eyes widened. "Harris wasn't just a sacrifice. He knew something. The Darach killed him to keep him quiet."

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, and he went after Danny because _he_ was starting to learn too much." Stiles now understood. The Darach tried to poison Danny because he got too close and had tried to poison them because they got too close. He then brought out Danny's research. "Now, check this out. Allison's dad wasn't the only one with a map, all right. Danny had one too." He took it and unfolded it on the table. "Danny marked all the telluric currents, okay? Now, the funny thing about Beacon Hills is that it _is_ a beacon. You wouldn't believe how much energy flowing through the Earth is around this town."

Scott checked out the map and looked at the map he got from Allison's father. "Stiles," he said drawing his attention. "Look, they match." He put the maps together and saw that the lines seemed to correspond on both maps perfectly. "All right, there's three places, right? Where they were kidnapped, and where they're body was found.

"Wait," Lydia stopped him. "That's right on the telluric current."

"So, maybe where he was sacrificed is somewhere in between?" Scott put out there.

Stiles grabbed Scott's pen. "Let me see that," he said as he started to line up the map. "Okay, you said that there are six more bodies to be found. Deaton is one of them," he said marking the clinic. "And he's got to be somewhere in between, right?"

"Stop," Cora said as she went and grabbed Stiles' hand.

A certain spark seemed to be moving down their fingertips. The two of them spared a moment to catch each other's eyes. Stiles saw that Cora's eyes were a deep brown, so much different from her brother's. Cora likewise thought Stiles honey colored eyes were somewhat mystifying. Stiles felt himself starting to calm down a bit as Cora felt her heart start to race a bit faster. She quickly looked back down and moved his hand over until it was over the bank. It was right at where the currents intersected.

"He's in the vault," she told them. "He's in the same vault."

Stiles' back stiffened. "Of course. No one was sacrificed there. Erica may have died there, but, that wasn't the Darach."

"He hasn't used it yet," Scott said following along.

That had to be where Deaton had been taken to be sacrificed. He can just imagine it now, Deaton being suspended in that dark and musty vault by his wrists. They quickly moved to gather up their papers as they prepared to break for the bank.

"Guys, hold on," Cora told them as she checked her phone.

"We don't have time," Scott said to her.

"It's Boyd. The plan, it didn't work. They cut the power."

They all started to share looks with one another as Scott thought back to his meeting with Deucalion. "It's just like he said." Scott would have to choose. Go and save Deaton. Or save Derek.

"Scott?" Stiles said at him.

"Go," he quickly told him. "I can save Deaton myself."

"What? Scott, what about us?" Stiles asked him before he could leave.

"Go and help the others. We can save them both. And Stiles…be careful," he said eying him sternly and Stiles narrowed his eyes and nodded. Deucalion may have said that he wasn't going to kill Stiles yet, but that didn't mean that he would be safe from Kali and the others. He then took off for his bike.

Stiles turned to Cora and Lydia. "Alright, let's go."

He got to his Jeep and watched Scott zoom off on his bike. Something about this didn't feel right. The Darach knew who they were, he had to. After the way he got into their heads at the motel, he seemed to know what to do to get to us. Surely, taking Deaton, he had to know how Scott might've felt about him. He remembered that the vault was where Cora and Boyd had been kept to lure them into a trap by the Alpha Pack. What if the Darach was recycling their idea? If that was true, Scott might need help. And…there was only one person he could think of that could help if the Darach trapped Scott again.

Before Cora got into the Jeep she saw Stiles pull out his phone. "What are you doing?"

"Getting Scott some help," Stiles said as he sent a text and then hopped on into the driver's seat.

They then drove off for the loft, the three of them silent as Stiles tried to get them as fast as possible. Stiles stared hard at the road, as he hoped he made a good call.

* * *

The Sheriff was sitting at his desk at the station flipping through photos. They were taken at the animal clinic but he couldn't see anything that gave him any idea about who could've taken Deaton. But as he got to one of the photos of the back office, his eyes went to where there were vials on a rack. He reached for a magnifying glass to the side and looked over at the labels. They were symbols, Celtic symbols. And they looked a lot like the symbols that he had seen on his son's evidence board in his room. He reached into his drawer and pulled out some photos that he took of his son's board. The symbols seemed to match perfectly with some that were on the vials.

But then there was a beep from his phone and he looked over at it and saw that his son had sent him a text. It said: Go to First National Bank. Vault. Save Deaton.

He then remembered what Melissa told him. That he had to trust in both of their sons. He let a breath loose and reached for his keys.

* * *

Derek tried to gain a step against Kali but she was both faster and stronger than him. She was starting to toss him with Isaac and Boyd looking on in helplessness and Jennifer looking on in horror. Kali jumped on top of Derek's table and sent a kick that sent Derek hurtling into the water. He roared through the pain and stood up to face at her as she stared down on him from the high ground she gained for herself. She then jumped down and sent another kick at him that threw him into the air which made Jennifer let out a piercing scream.

Isaac tried to move for Jennifer but Derek held out his hand. "No!" he screamed at him.

Aiden and Ethan held her tighter and Isaac stopped in his tracks. "Wait," he shouted back at Boyd before he could go for them.

Derek charged for Kali again and managed to get in two hits before she blocked his third and thrust her palm into his chest to make him stumble back.

* * *

Scott got to the bank and quickly ran for the vault. He saw that it was open and he could hear some light breathing just beyond the scope of his hearing. He quickly ran inside and saw Deaton hanging, right there in the center of the vault, not moving a muscle. He was close to dying. Scott broke into a run for him but was struck back before he could get too close. He stood up and saw that there was a ring of mountain ash around Deaton. The Darach must've known that he would come. Scott looked back up at Deaton and saw that he wasn't breathing anymore. He went and took some breaths before moving towards the barrier again. He pushed at it with his hands as it emitted a faint blue light. Scott started roaring louder, pushing harder as he heard Deaton's heart beat grow fainter.

His screams drew Deaton to open his eyes and look at him. Scott's eyes started to glow and Deaton watched as they started to slowly turn red. It lasted for a moment before he was thrust back again.

Scott was now on the ground, completely exhausted, as he looked up helplessly at the one he had failed to save.

"Scott! Let me give it a shot."

Scott turned around and saw Stiles' dad at the vault's entrance. He took out his gun and shot at the rope, making Deaton fall to the ground.

* * *

The Jeep skidded to a stop just outside the loft and the three of them hopped out of the car and quickly ran for the power generator for the building.

"Okay," Stiles said as he got to the console. "What do we do?" he asked looking over at Cora.

"Pull them. Pull all of them," she said before she and Lydia started yanking all the levers.

Stiles went and sent a quick message for Isaac.

As everyone kept watching Derek and Kali fight, Isaac felt his phone vibrate and opened Stiles message. He quickly ran for Jennifer with Boyd right behind him, though he broke off and headed for Derek. Aiden and Ethan let her go and moved to fight with Isaac but he kept running and pushed Jennifer back. He made it to her just before the water became electrified. Derek, Kali and Boyd got shocked as the other four looked on as three of them fell to the ground.

Kali shook off the shocks and pointed at Derek as she glared at the twins. "Take him!" she shouted at them.

The twins ran over and grabbed Derek while Isaac stayed back and held Jennifer. Kali grabbed Boyd and lifted him off the floor as the twins held Derek down and forced his arms up and his claws to extend. When they did, Kali raised Boyd just above them and then threw him down for Derek's claws to pierce his heart and lung. Boyd let out a pained gasp as Derek grunted as he looked up in horror. His red eyes glowing a brighter red as he felt Boyd's power start to seep out of him and into himself.

As they were running upstairs, Stiles and Cora stopped in mid-step and they both gasped. Stiles held a hand to his chest as if someone had just gone and hit it with a sledgehammer. He went and shared a grim look with Cora.

Lydia looked between the two of them. "What? What is it?" she frantically asked them.

They didn't answer. They just went and continued running and Lydia ran after them.

The twins then lightly let Derek go and he lightly brought Boyd down until he fell to his knees in front of him. Kali spared Derek a look before she started to walk off.

"Deucalion said only one would die tonight. Now one has," she said as she lightly treaded through the water. Aiden and Ethan shared a look before they followed after her. "I'm going to give you until the next full moon Derek. You join the pack, or next time, I'm killing all of you."

They then took off from the loft door. They moved for the stairs but stopped short when as Stiles, Cora and Lydia made it to the landing below them. The three of them stopped too when they noticed the Alphas. Stiles and Cora's noses flared when they smelled the scent of fresh blood on the three of them.

"What have you done?" Stiles spat at them.

Kali smirked lazily at them. "If its Derek you're worried about, don't. He's still alive, well for now anyway."

Stiles only glared harder at them. "What did you do?" he growled. He then extended his claws out and Cora followed his lead.

"You don't want to do that boy," Kali laughed at him. "I wouldn't want to be forced to hurt you."

"I can handle a little pain," Stiles said to her unflinchingly.

"Oh, I know you can. I'm actually looking forward to seeing how much. But, right now, its not your pain you should be worrying about." She then pointed out at the space behind them that led to Derek's place. "Is it?"

Stiles grit his teeth before he retracted his claws and ran up and passed them. Cora ran in behind him. Lydia moved for the door herself but stopped and looked back over at Aiden who looked away from her as soon as she caught his eye. She then moved off to join the others.

Isaac was still holding onto Jennifer but they were both looking on in horror at Derek who had Boyd in his grasp.

Derek was looking at where his claws were piercing at Boyd's chest. He was scared to pull them out. "Hey, hey" he said to him.

"It's okay," Boyd mumbled at him as blood seeped from his mouth.

"No, no. No, it's not," Derek gasped at him. "It's not."

"It's all okay Derek."

Derek looked up at Boyd's dimming eyes with tears running down his. "I'm sorry," he said to him.

Boyd's eyes started to drop ever slowly. "The full moon," he said weakly. "That feeling…that was worth it." Derek's hold over Boyd's chest was loosening as he felt Boyd's heart slowing down, quickly. "There's a lunar eclipse. I…always wondered what…what that felt like for one of us."

Boyd then saw himself back in the vault, with Erica laying off to the side.

"Boyd," she muttered. "What do you think will happen to us on the lunar eclipse? They last for hours, you know. Because it's just the Earth's shadow. I wonder what will happen to us. Maybe, it will make us stronger." She then looked to the side at Kali's retreating back. "I hope it'll make us stronger," Erica said firmer as she stood up.

Derek gasped as that memory filled him as Boyd's life then faded away. Derek saw through Boyd's eyes as Erica's last moment was of her reaching for him, his hand as she died.

Stiles and Cora got to the loft entrance and their eyes fell on Derek being on his knees with Boyd's body in front of him. Cora broke off and ran for them, with Stiles following up behind her. As they made it to them, Lydia got to the entrance and stood next to Isaac and Ms. Blake on the floor as they stared at them all mourn.

Cora was holding onto Boyd and crying while Stiles went to grip onto Derek's shoulder as the Alpha was transfixed on his fallen beta. Stiles eyes then fell onto Derek's shaking hands that were stained with blood. The scent went through his nose and found that it was Boyd's. Suddenly, Stiles' eyes shut tight as he saw Kali throw Boyd onto Derek's claws to force him to die by his hand. Stiles gasped out in both pain and horror from what he had seen before he grit his teeth in anger. His eyes narrowed and they burned gold. As they glowed, the gold burned brighter and the whites of his eyes went darker for a moment, just like a wolf's. They were like this for a moment before his eyes went back to normal beta gold.

* * *

Over at a hospital room, Gerard Argent was staring out at the night sky as Chris was pacing behind him, angrily.

"If you know something about him and you're reluctant to tell me, try remembering it's a long list of favors and penance before you're redeemed in my eyes."

"Oh?" Gerard said as he wiped more of the black goo from his nose. "Because it seems to me that you're the one whose trying to earn redemption and penance, son. Whose eyes are you trying to be redeemed to I wonder." Gerard then looked over at his son's left arm where the scars were there, covered by his jacket's sleeve.

Chris then raised that very hand and pointed at him. "You're gonna tell me the story, and you're gonna tell me the truth."

Chris then stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him, leaving Gerard to glare off at the floor before he wiped more goo from his mouth. Just then, the door opened up again, but it wasn't his son standing out there, but his granddaughter.

"Surprised to see me?" Allison asked.

Gerard let a small grin loose. "Only surprised that its taken you this long."

* * *

The Sheriff had taken Deaton and set him against the vault's wall where he went to break the ropes off of him and help him breathe normally. Scott was kneeling next to him and smiled at him in relief when Deaton smiled over at him.

Scott looked over at Stiles' dad. "How did you find us?"

"The vials, at the clinic, with the Celtic symbols. I thought one of them was familiar." He then pointed at the floor of the vault where the logo of the bank was.

"Sheriff," Deaton gasped. "Thank you for being one hell of a detective."

"Yeah…well, that and Stiles sent me a text," he gasped. He then got up to his feet. "Alright. Let's get you an ambulance." He then moved out to radio for one.

When the sheriff stepped out, Deaton quickly grabbed at Scott. "Your eyes," he gasped at him. "They were red. Bright red."

Scott's face paled. "How is that possible?"

The sheriff stuck his head back inside. His eyes narrowed as he noticed the two of them seemed to be locked in some kind of tense conversation. He was beginning to wonder if it wasn't just Melissa and their sons who were hiding something about all of this. "Paramedics are on their way," he said to them drawing their eyes. "I'll be back in half a minute."

They nodded and he left. They then turned back to face each other.

"It's rare," said Deaton. "Something that doesn't happen within 100 years, but every once in a while, a beta can become an Alpha without having to steal or take that power. They call it a True Alpha. It's one who rises purely on the strength of the character, by virtue, by sheer force of will."

Scott couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was turning into an Alpha. Then, he remembered Stiles telling him that he knew that Deaton was hiding something. The looks that he would throw both of them when he thought they weren't looking. "You knew this would happen." It wasn't a question.

"I believed. From the moment I knew you were bitten, I believed."

Scott then remembered what Ethan told him at the hospital. "You're not the only one."

"No," Deaton shook his head. "Deucalion isn't after Derek. He's merely a consolation prize. It's you that he wants. You're his trophy."

Scott eyes narrowed. Now he knew why the Alpha Pack wanted with him. To join their pack as an Alpha…but there was still one more thing that stood out. "And Stiles is the finish line."

Deaton nodded. "Deucalion is after Stiles too. Like you, he's rising as well but unlike you Deucalion doesn't want him in his pack. He wants to take the power that he has growing inside him for himself."

Just as Ethan told them. "What power? Is he becoming an Alpha too?" Scott asked.

Deaton shook his head this time. "No. Stiles isn't turning into an Alpha. He's becoming something much rarer, older and more powerful. He's taken to his change in a way and level that less than a handful of werewolves throughout history have. That were capable of."

"Capable of what?" Scott pressed. "What is he?"

His boss looked him grimly in the eye. "He's a Beast."


	15. Visionary

Chapter 15: Visionary

Stiles was sitting in the loft, looking up at Cora who was staring out the fogged windows. She was telling him of a time that she remembered her brother Derek being in trouble.

 _He had been out for a run in the woods at night when he had bumped into another werewolf. Derek had only enough time to get a look at the guy before an arrow was lodged into his throat. It had been a hunter belonging to the Argents that had taken the guy out and he wanted to take Derek out. That was until Peter had arrived to help him as their mother had sent him out to find him. He had pulled Derek away as more hunters including Allison's father and grandfather had come in to hunt for them. They then had gone off to hide in a secret cellar in the woods._

"They were there for two days, waiting, hiding," she mumbled, still staring out the window. "That's what we're taught to do when the hunters find us. Hide and Heal."

"Okay," Stiles huffed as he paced in front of the table. "Is two days standard then or are we thinking that Derek is on some extended getaway."

Cora turned to look over at him. "Why do you care?"

Stiles stopped pacing and widened his eyes at her. "Why do I care? Hmm, maybe because over the last few weeks my best friend tried to kill himself. His boss was nearly ritually sacrificed. A girl that I've known since I was three _was_ ritually sacrificed. Do you need me to keep going?" he asked as Cora lowered her head down. "Cause I can, all right? For like an hour. And it would end with the fact that Deucalion wants to rip me apart with his bare claws." Stiles then went back to his pacing. Scott had told him what Deaton said. What the vet told him he was. At least what he was becoming. A Beast, whatever that meant, though the thought of it made Stiles' blood run cold.

Cora started to move away from the window and towards him. "You think Derek can do anything about that?"

"Well, considering that he's the Alpha of this town, I would think that he _should_ be doing something, yeah. Not pulling these disappearing acts every other day."

Cora shook her head. "I don't know. There's something different about him now. He wasn't like this when I knew him."

Stiles stopped pacing and looked straight at her. He just realized that he didn't know too much about Derek's past, at least when it came to his family and life before Kate Argent and the fire. "What was he like?" he asked with interest.

But then there was some sound from the staircase as Peter came down it. "A lot like Scott actually," he said as he stepped down. "A lot like most teenagers. Unbearably romantic, profoundly narcissistic, tolerable really only to other teenagers."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Okay, so what happened? What changed him?"

"Well, the same thing that changes a lot of young men…a girl?"

Now Stiles let out a skeptical scoff. "You're telling me that some girl broke his little heart? That's why Derek is the way he is?"

Peter then turned to Cora. "Do you remember Derek before he was an Alpha? He had blue eyes." He then turned to Stiles. "Do you know why some wolves have blue eyes?"

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "No, I always thought that it was some weird kind of fluke. I mean the only ones I'd seen with blue eyes have been you, Derek and Jackson when he got turned."

"Yes, but we didn't start that way. From the beginning, save for Alphas, all wolves have golden eyes."

"So why are they blue now?"

"Why…that's the question, isn't it?" Peter asked. "If you want to know what changed Derek, you need to know what changed the color of his eyes."

* * *

At that very moment, in the medical facility in the next town over, Gerard Argent was staring out the windows, wiping his nose. He heard the door open and caught a reflection of his granddaughter in the mirror close by.

"Did you bring him?" he asked her. The next moment, he turned around to see Scott step in view of the doorway. He smiled at the sight of him. "Oh, come in Scott and give an old man a little something for his pain." He then pulled his sleeve up and reached his hand out to him.

Scott just glared at him. The thought of doing something so personal, and so beautiful for this hideous man made Scott want to vomit. Gerard didn't deserve any kind of relief, especially from him or anyone of them that he tried to kill.

Allison could see how Scott was feeling as he looked at her grandfather. "You don't have to do this," she told him.

"If you want me to talk then this is how it's going to happen," Gerard spat at them.

Scott swallowed and pushed down his discomfort. "If I do this, you have to tell us everything you know," Scott hissed at him. "Everything."

Gerard narrowed his eyes harder at Scott as he thrust his arm forward harder. Scott moved in closer and took a glove off his hand. He then slowly reached for Gerard's arm and took his hand. Scott then pulled pain from Gerard. A lot as it went straight to his head and made his eyes burn gold. Just like how Stiles had done for him when he was getting his tattoo burned on. Now he knew just how much of his pain that Stiles had been taking from him to help him with getting his tattoo. The fact that he was doing this now for someone who brought them all so much pain made him feel sick as well as pained.

Right after Scott had pulled quite a bit of pain from him, he and Allison began to tell him of the recent string of sacrifices that happened in the town.

"They found a third body?" he asked them as he wiped some more goo from his nose.

"Another doctor," said Allison. "Right after Scott found Deaton.

"Right after? Almost like it was expected he'd survive."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"How do you know your dark druid isn't your wise veterinarian himself?" he asked him slyly. "Maybe he knew you'd find him. Maybe he planned it that way?"

"He'd never let an innocent die," Scott defended him.

"Don't be so sure. You'd be surprised how far some people would go to get rid of someone like Deucalion."

"You mean someone like you?" Allison said pointedly.

That made Gerard laugh. "I don't go easily, do I? You know Scott, you've made me something of a celebrity here." He then spat some goo that had gathered in his mouth. "I'm a medical mystery. The cancer is now virtually undetectable but the doctors have no clue why my body keeps producing and ejecting this bizarre black fluid."

"Well I let you off easy," Scott sternly told him. "Believe me, if Stiles had his way, the medical mystery instead would be how you could be alive with your body broken in so many places." That made Gerard chuckle in amusement. "Now, I did what you asked me to do. Tell us how to beat him."

Gerard shook his head. "You can't. I've tried."

Allison shook her head. "Then this is a complete waste of time. He doesn't know anything." She then looked over at Scott. "Sorry you did this," she apologized. "Let's go." She then headed for the door and Scott was rising to join her.

"Wait," Gerard said quickly making her stop. "I can tell you one thing. Deucalion may have lost his eyes, but he's not always blind."

* * *

Peter began to tell Stiles and Cora of the day that Derek had formally met a girl that he liked.

 _It was a girl named Paige who was quite a cello player. They had met when Paige had been practicing her playing in the music room but Derek had been making a lot of noise just outside with his friends on the basketball team. She told them to quiet down and Derek was cocky with her and tried to show off with the basketball to her. That only made her give up and go back to the music room and try to keep practicing. Derek had gone after her and wanted to know her name. She kept refusing to tell him, even though she knew his name, so he made a challenge to get her name if he played an instrument. He picked up a triangle._

Stiles thought that young Derek kind of reminded him of Jackson. A popular guy that loved to flaunt himself around like he ruled the school.

"Okay so if Derek was a sophomore, then how old was he? How old were you?" Stiles asked him. "How old are you now?" he asked Peter.

He shrugged. "Not as young as we could have been, but not as old as you might think."

Stiles blew out a heated breath. "Okay, that was frustratingly vague." He pointed at Cora. "How old are you?"

"I'm 17," she said.

"See, that's an answer. That's how we answer people."

But Cora tilted her head a bit. "Well, 17 in how you'd measure years."

Stiles rolled his eye. "All right, I'm just going to drop it," he said as Cora tried not to laugh at him. "Okay, what happened to Derek and the cello girl," he said getting them back to the subject.

"What do you think happened?" Peter said. "They were teenagers. One minute it's, 'I hate you, don't talk to me' and the next its frantic grouping in any dark corner they could manage to find themselves alone for five minutes. Their favorite dark corner was an abandoned distillery outside Beacon Hills."

"Sounds romantic," Stiles dully mumbled before he narrowed his eyes at him. "And how exactly do you know this? You just said they were alone."

"Back then, I wasn't just Derek's uncle. I was his best friend. His closest confidante. Much like you are Scott's. That's how I know."

Stiles looked over at Cora whose narrowed eyed expression seemed to confirm what he just said. "Well, unlike Scott, clearly Derek didn't have good taste in friends back then."

Then Peter glared at him but continued with the story.

* * *

Scott and Allison were listening to the same story but told by Gerard.

 _Derek and Paige had been making out but it was cut short as Deucalion, Ennis and Kali had gone to the distillery to have a meeting with their packs. Ennis was looking for retribution for the loss of his beta that had been killed by the Argents. Suspended and cut in half with a sword._

"They were all there. Ennis, Kali, Deucalion. Each with their own packs, before they'd killed them all and decided to form their little all-star team."

"But, they didn't live here, did they?" Allison asked him.

"No," he answered. "But there was an exceptionally powerful Alpha who did live here. She had a capacity to shapeshift. It was rare among her kind. That made her something of a leader. The kind of person they would go to for advice and guidance. Talia Hale."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "Derek's mother."

* * *

Peter began telling what happened after his sister showed up to the packs in the distillery.

 _Talia had begun arguing in favor of Ennis' desire to have payback against the Argents, claiming that it was his right. Though Deucalion was arguing that even though it was Ennis' right, that didn't mean he was right to. He argued that if Ennis did this then it wouldn't stop. The violence and death would just travel back and forth. Though Ennis was having none of it as the brutal way his beta was slaughtered and his body butchered and violated. He then went and carved the sign for vendetta into the metal wall with his claws._

As Stiles listened, his eyes widened. He couldn't believe that Deucalion was trying to go with a pacifist approach. In a way, the man sounded just as optimistic and ideal as Scott. He wondered what happened to make such a man go and become a twisted lunatic.

Peter went over to the window and drew a spiral into the condensation. "Our mark for vendetta."

"Yeah, you guys really take that revenge thing to like a whole new level, don't you?" Stiles remembered back when Peter had his own vendetta to settle and started lashing out at innocent people that hadn't laid so much as a finger to the Hales.

"It isn't just revenge. Losing a member of your pack isn't like losing family," Cora argued. "It's like you lose a limb."

"A piece of yourself that you can never get back," Stiles mumbled and Cora nodded. "Yeah, I know. That's how I felt when I lost my mother. I felt it too when I heard about Erica and saw Boyd lying lifeless on the floor. So, yeah, I'd say losing a member of your pack _is_ like losing family."

Stiles was now looking at her with a narrowed set of eyes and she was returning the look before she took a deep breath and looked away. Peter narrowed his eyes at the two of them before he looked away, back to the window.

"Actually…that's more or less what Ennis said when they wouldn't let him see the body." He began to tell them of Ennis being at the hospital but the orderlies and soon the police arriving to hold Ennis back and keep him from taking the body from the morgue.

"I don't get it," Cora cut in. "What does this have to do with Derek?"

He looked back at her. "Everything. It's never just a single moment. It's a confluence of events. Personally, I looked at Ennis' circumstance, I saw profound loss. Derek…he saw something different."

Stiles eyes were narrowed as he focused his gaze on Peter. "Oh, and what was that?" he asked as he tried not to leak any sarcasm because he had a feeling of where this was heading.

"He saw opportunity," Peter said.

"Opportunity? To do what?" Stiles said softly as he focused on Peter's heart as he looked into his eyes.

"To always be with her."

"Paige?" Cora said.

Peter nodded. "You see, the thing was that he had this constant fear. Obsessing over it. Thinking about it all night. All day. All the time, always on his mind."

Stiles' jaw tightened. "What would happen when she found out?" he mumbled. He remembered how it was with Scott when he started dating Allison. How freaked out would she be if she knew, especially with her family's legacy thrown into the mix? Though with Derek, his girl wasn't the daughter of a hunter, but a true blue normal girl.

Peter started to stare off. "But, he started to get an idea. A very dangerous one. I…I kept telling him not to do it. Every day, the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became. You know…teenagers. I bet he even blames me. He probably has convinced himself that the whole thing was my idea." Peter's tone was low, sad and full of regret.

He then shared a grim look with Cora who stared blankly back at him. Stiles also looked grimly at him. Though Stiles' hand was clenched underneath the table.

* * *

Gerard then started to tell Allison and Scott about their find in the woods.

 _They had found a cellar with a large base of tree roots that had grown inside. Chris had identified it as a Nemeton. Further evidenced when he found the Celtic Five Fold Knot symbol emblazed on it._

"How does he know about, Celtic symbols and Druids?" Allison asked.

"Know thy enemy Allison," Gerard said echoing advice that he had given her what felt like a lifetime ago. "The older wolves had a relationship with the Druids. They called them emissaries."

"Like my boss, Deaton," said Scott.

Gerard then picked himself up from his wheelchair and made his way for his bedside table. "Do you know the myth of Lycaon?"

"Uh, I know it's where we get the word Lycanthrope," Scott said as he moved to stand beside him with Allison next to him.

"According to myth, some Greek citizens believed they owed their lives more to Prometheus than to the gods of Olympus. Some followers even took names to honor the titans instead of the gods."

"Like Deucalion?" Scott mumbled.

"The son of Prometheus," Gerard said turning to the page with a picture of the Greek Deucalion. "Lycaon didn't just dishonor the gods, he challenged them." He then turned to a page detailing Lycaon's myth. "He invited Zeus to a banquet and then tried to serve him the flesh of a human being. Angered Zeus blew the place apart with lightning bolts and then punished Lycaon and his sons by turning them into wolves." He then turned the page to one of the Druids. "The part that is lesser known is how Lycaon sought out the Druids to help turn him back to human."

"Why Druids?" Scott asked him.

"The ancient belief was that Druids knew how to shapeshift. They couldn't make Lycaon and his sons human again but they did teach them how to shift back and forth. And so, the Druids became important advisors to the packs."

* * *

"They keep us connected to our humanity," Cora said softly as she explained emissaries to Stiles. "But they're a secret. Even in the packs sometimes only the Alphas know who the emissary is. Derek and I had no idea about Deaton."

"Or his sister, Morrell," Peter put in.

"She's an emissary too?"

Peter nodded. "For the Alpha pack."

Stiles' eyes widened. "Our guidance counselor?!" Now Stiles felt mortified. "Why don't you guys tell me any of this stuff? I shared really intimate details with her!"

"And did she give you good advice?" Cora asked him.

Stiles head tilted a bit. "Actually, yeah," he nodded. "She did."

"That's what they do," said Peter. "That's what Deaton used to do for Talia." He then started to explain what happened between Talia and Deaton having a meeting with Deucalion to discuss Gerard and Ennis' vendetta.

 _Deaton was telling Deucalion that it might not be the wisest course of action to try and reach out to Gerard Argent in peace. Talia agreed with him, mostly because she felt that Gerard wouldn't accept it. Deucalion argued that Gerard would be worried about the well-being of his own people as they were but Talia countered that Gerard wouldn't care because he was psychotic. Deaton even told him the story of the Scorpion and The Frog to try and argue that Deucalion shouldn't put so much faith in a man like Gerard but the Alpha was set in going through with offering the hunter an olive branch. Talia respected his decision though she warned him to not go alone._

Again, as Stiles heard this, he thought that Deucalion really was like Scott, once upon a time. Though he thought Talia's advice and views on the hunter were very intuitive, given his own history with the Argents.

"Your mom sounds like she was a smart, strong and cynical woman. I think I would've liked her," Stiles said to Cora who gave him a cheeky grin.

"Yeah," she said a bit airily. "Laura was the same way," she said throwing a slight look Peter's way. "If she was going to be the Alpha after mom then she wanted to be just like her. And she was. Laura was always so strong and smart, kind of a wiseass too," she added with a small smile.

Stiles shrugged. "Well, if she was with Derek this whole time, I guess she would have to be if she was going to put up with him. I think I might've liked her too."

"Yeah, well, I think she may have put up with you too," Cora said nonchalantly as she narrowed her eyes at him. "I know that I can and I don't hold a candle to her when it comes with dealing with idiots."

"Well, it would be safe to say you inherited your mother's strength and cynicism, and your sister's wiseassness. The brains...maybe not so much," Stiles countered back playfully.

Peter rolled his eyes at their playful banter. "Do you two mind to let me finish the story before you get lost in goofing off with each other?" he said shortly to them as he was starting to have enough.

Stiles extended his arm at him. "Alright, sorry, go ahead."

"Ugh, teenagers," Peter rolled his eyes.

 _Derek had been waiting over at the locker rooms in the school. Sending a message for Paige to meet up with him. Instead, she had come across Ennis. The plan was for him to bite Paige so that she could turn into a werewolf and then she and Derek could be together with no fear of her leaving him._

"Wait," Cora said stopping her uncle. "Ennis? Why did you choose him?"

"Why not?" Peter said blankly. "Ennis needed a new member for his pack. Paige was young and strong. Doing a favor for Derek meant Ennis would be in good with Talia. Back then, everyone wanted to be in good with her."

Stiles raised his head a bit and his eyes went and focused on Peter. "He doesn't remember that it was Ennis, does he?"

"If he does then he keeps it to himself." Peter then continued telling the story.

 _Peter was there, overseeing the whole thing. Derek apparently had second thoughts and raced to try and stop Ennis from biting her. He looked out into the hall to see the Alpha leering over his girlfriend._

"He came at Ennis," Peter told them as he paced. "A 15 year old boy, against a giant. But it was pointless to fight. She'd already been bitten.

"So, did she turn?" Cora asked him.

"She should have." Peter lowered his gaze. "Most of the time, the bite takes. Most of the time."

Stiles then remembered what Peter once told him. "When you bit Lydia, you said that if she didn't die, she would be turned."

He nodded. "If." He then explained about Derek taking Paige to the cellar. Peter had found them there and Derek asked him what was happening to her. Paige was in his arms, bleeding black blood and getting weaker. "He knew the answer though. It didn't matter that she was young or strong. Do you remember what I once told you Stiles? Some people just aren't made for this." Stiles and Cora glared down at that. "She fought…she struggled desperately. Trying to survive."

 _Derek had held Paige and moved to try and take away her pain but there was just too much for him to take away and make it easier. Derek wanted to apologize to her but Paige claimed that she knew. She explained that she always had a feeling about Derek being something. She asked if she was going to die, and when Derek tearfully nodded, her pain seemed to intensify as well as her fear. She asked him to help her. To make it all go away. And…he did._

"I remember taking her body from his arms," Peter somberly explained. "To the woods, to a place I knew it would be found. Another in a long line of Beacon Hills animal attacks."

Some tears fell from Cora's eyes. "And what about Derek?"

"Taking an innocent life, takes something from you. A bit of your soul, darkened. Dimming your brilliant once golden yellow…into a cold, steel blue. Like mine," he said flashing his blue eyes at them.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the sight. So…that was why. That explained Derek's anger and warnings to Scott when they first met. Derek must've seen himself in Scott when they first met and wanted to try and spare Scott suffering the same thing. Derek's eyes would serve as a constant reminder of what he had done to Paige. He didn't want Scott to go through something like that, even if Allison wasn't a hunter. Her being a hunter reminded him of Kate and what she did to him. Scott and Allison were a double dose of his past. Not only that, but he also now knew why Jackson's eyes had been blue. From killing all those innocent people by both Matt and Gerard's wills. As for Peter…Stiles knew he had killed innocents after he got out of his coma. He couldn't help but wonder if his eyes had gone blue before or after that. Though, he wouldn't be asking that from Peter any time soon.

* * *

Gerard wiped a fresh bit of goo under his nose. "I wasn't really surprised when Deaton came by to arrange a meeting with Deucalion. As William Blake said: Any sinister person who means to be your enemy always starts by trying to become your friend."

Scott's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that he wasn't going there to make peace?"

"Because I'm not an idiot. You know the sanscript fable of the Scorpion and The Turtle?"

Scott nodded. "The scorpion asks the turtle for a ride across the river."

Gerard cuts in. "And when the scorpion stings the turtle dooming them both, what does he say to explain his behavior."

Scott straightens up in his chair. "It's my nature."

"I know a werewolf's nature. I knew exactly what was coming. A trap."

"They attacked you?" Allison asked.

"It was an ambush." Gerard explained.

* * *

 _Gerard was waiting in the distillery with three of his men as Deucalion and two of his fellow betas came in with him. Gerard started off by amusingly pointing out the irony of meeting in a distillery for their meeting. He talked of the process of separating two substances by pushing them into their volatile states which Deucalion stated was what he wanted to avoid. Gerard then quickly gassed them all with chemicals, including his own hunters. He quickly inoculated himself with a syringe before he went and brought out a mace covered in spikes. He flashed it at Deucalion but he then used it on his own hunters. He claimed it was because they wanted peace like Deucalion did. The Alpha moved to crawl out of the distillery, to separate himself from the chemicals but Gerard was on his trail as he watched him try to escape with amusement. Deucalion claimed that he had a vision, one of peace. But Gerard just said that he was shortsighted. The hunter then took two flash bolts and jammed them into his eyes._

 _And Deucalion lost the use of his eyes._

This story was told by Gerard and Peter though they had different versions to tell their young listeners. Though, what happened after, they told the same version of those events.

 _Deucalion had gone to Deaton for help and he regretfully told him that his eyes would heal, but he would never be able to see with them. He let out a pained roar and told everyone to leave him alone. Deaton and Talia respected his wishes and left, but his beta didn't. He saw his weakened and blind Alpha as pitiful and when Deucalion told him to leave him alone, he claimed that he was alone. He tried to strike his Alpha down and take his power but Deucalion threw him off. He suddenly saw the room and his beta in infrared and then moved to maul him. Deucalion eyes then fully healed over as he felt a surge of power flow into him._

* * *

Scott leaned in. "He sees as a wolf?" he asked.

Gerard nodded. "He's not always blind," he repeated from before.

"Maybe we could use that against him," Allison suggested.

Scott nodded. "Come on," he told her as they moved to get up.

"Scott," Gerard said stopping them in their tracks. He then rolled his sleeve back up and held his hand out. Scott nodded and moved to take some more of Gerard's pain from him. A little before he took his hand away. "Oh, I think about you sometimes Scott. I do and…I wonder if I did things differently. Getting the bite to cure my cancer, I wonder…when it became my nature to believe that most things couldn't be asked for but had to be taken."

Allison went to leave the room and they watched her go before turning back to each other.

Scott glared at him. "I don't believe you. The whole time, telling your story, I was listening to your heart beat. It never went up and it never went down. It was steady the _whole_ time."

"Because I was telling the truth," Gerard tried to explain.

"Or because you're a very good liar. Like how you lied to your own son and granddaughter when you tried to frame my best friend to them. Almost like…you've had experience doing that." Scott doubted that Gerard's story of Deucalion ambushing him and his people was true. Or about him sincerely wanting peace. Gerard wasn't the type who wanted peace. Scott then viciously grabbed onto his hand, but this time, wasn't taking pain. He was causing it. And he was glaring right into Gerard's eyes. "I'm warning you…if you lied and it causes people to get hurt, I'll be back…to take away more than just your pain."

He then viciously let the man's hand go and then stepped out of the room. Gerard watched him go, a little tensed up. Though…he doubted that Scott would really come back and do what he alluded to. It wasn't in his nature. But…it was definitely in another that was close to him.

* * *

Stiles was staring off, deep in thought, and then lowered his gaze a bit. Cora was sitting next to him, watching him and noticed the sudden change.

"What?" she asked him. Stiles went and looked back at her. She pointed at her own face. "What's this look on your face?"

Stiles shrugged his shoulders. "What look?"

Cora let out a heated breath. "The kind of look that makes me want to punch you."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "My god, you are so Derek's sister. Almost forgot," he said sarcastically to her.

That made Cora roll her eyes. "What is with the look?" she asked him again.

Stiles shook his head. "I just don't believe him."

"Peter? About what?"

"Everything. Well, really for the parts of his story where he was involved." He then turned to face her completely. "Okay, in Ms. Blake's class we're reading Heart of Darkness. It's a first person narrated by Marlow, but the thing is he's an unreliable narrator. You know that the details of the story have changed because of his perspective."

"Right, and we heard the story from Peter's perspective."

"Yeah, and call me crazy, but I don't think Peter's perspective is a reliable one."

Cora shook her head. "But, he wasn't lying. I was listening to his heart."

"Yeah, so was I. Peter's heart beat didn't change in the slightest. It was steady, even at his so called emotional bits. He only got emotional when he was talking about trying to reason with your brother against turning Paige or how he feels Derek blames him. I know from experience that he's is a gifted liar when it comes to regret. And…there were parts of his story that didn't add up. Like with Derek and his worries about Paige. I know from the experience of dealing with Scott's relationship with Allison that the thought of turning her into a werewolf wouldn't come to his head. At least, not on his own. Then there was when he spoke about your mother."

Cora tensed. "What?"

"Peter tried to hide it, but, for a second, I could hear jealousy in his voice. I think he might've been trying to use both Derek and Paige in order to get to his sister. One thing is obvious from his story...none of us should trust him."

Cora eyes hardened a bit. "So…then what are you going to do? Go to Derek and ask him what really happened with the girl he was in love with, and then killed?" she asked softening up.

Stiles let out a puff of air. "If I have to…yeah." He then looked Cora in the eye. "Believe me, I wouldn't if I had to. I don't like opening old wounds like that."

"Then don't. I get that you're worried about Deucalion."

"Yeah," Stiles mumbled as he looked away from her. "Deucalion. Hard to believe that he was really the pacifist that Peter said he was."

"You think he was lying about that too?"

"Actually…no. It was too crazy to lie about. But, hearing how he was betrayed and blinded by Gerard, I can start to see what made him a murdering lunatic now. Just goes to show that Gerard was making problems for us to deal with way back then." If Stiles ever ran into that man again, he would tear his arms off.

"And still dealing with," Cora mumbled.

Stiles looked back at her. He remembered that Cora had spent the last six years thinking that her whole family was dead. Just like her brother but at least he had his sister Laura before she was killed. Cora had no one. He moved his hand to rub away the trace of a tear that was gathering at the corner of her eye. Cora tried to turn away from the gesture but Stiles moved his hand to the bottom of her chin to make her catch his eye and Stiles stared hard back at her. Before they knew it, they were leaning towards each other and their lips began rubbing softly on one another. It went on for a minute before he broke away from her.

"Sorry," he said moving to back away from her feeling a little embarrassed.

But Cora went to grab his arm keeping him from getting too far. "Don't." She went and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

Stiles closed his eyes as she went and kissed him at his neck. "Uh…maybe we shouldn't be doing this, right now."

That was a definite understatement. Stiles wasn't thinking that Cora wasn't desirable. She was definitely attractive. Beautiful in that mysterious and wild sort of way but this might not be a good idea. For one, with everything going on with them, maybe it wasn't the best time to be hooking up. For another, should Derek find out that he even looked at his little sister too long, he would kill him, and mean to do it this time.

But Cora went on and moved her palm over his cheek. "Stiles...just shut up."

Stiles breathing increased as he caught the hungry look in Cora's eyes. It started to burn into him. His inner wolf was urging him to feel sated. He had been down this road before, with Heather. Cora was different from Heather. Where his old friend was sweet and gentle, Cora was rough and fierce. As different as she was, it was no less appealing to him. He found himself to be drawn to her ferocity. It appealed to both his human and his animal side. Stiles could smell the scent of Cora's wolf and it was giving off the scent of longing and need, one that he was feeling an urge to sate.

"Ah screw it," he said before he grabbed her face and pull her lips back to his which she savagely returned. A corner of his mind told him that Derek would kill him if he found out but he would have to get in line next to Deucalion. He could very well be dying soon so might as well live until he did.

Before he knew it, Cora had managed to drag him to her room with their lips still attached. Stiles' brief makeout session with Heather had been as far as he had gotten in the matter of experience but he found his hands and lips acting almost on instinct. They moved themselves further inside until their legs grazed the bed and Stiles let a small groan out from the bottom of his throat before he threw them onto the bed with him on top. He found himself fully giving in to his primal instincts as Cora lifted his shirt. He finished pulling it off before she reached up and pulled him back down to capture his lips. Cora then moved to get him on his back as she straddled him. Stiles started to slide his hands underneath Cora's shirt and slowly started to raise it as Cora began to kiss at his chest. Stiles closed his eyes and let himself feel Cora's touches as he caressed Cora's back just above her jeans. Cora then moved away to pull her top off and Stiles opened his eyes and caught Cora's eyes letting their golden glow show triggering his own golden eyes. They both stared at each other for a moment before Stiles let a small growl loose and yanked her down and assaulted her lips. They started to turn to their sides where Stiles started to move his lips to Cora's throat and began to lightly nip all along the skin their and down to her collar bone. Cora ran her blunt nails lightly across his back and shoulder blades as she went and lightly nipped at his ear.

They moved to let out all their frustrations and tensions loose into one another. One by one, the rest of their clothes slowly found themselves thrown about on random places around the bed before they both lost themselves in each other in a frenzy of wolfish moans and light growls.

* * *

The sheriff was in Stiles room, sneaking a look at his son's board. His son was out late, doing who knew what. There were new additions that his son had made to it. First, that symbol that he now knew was called a Five Fold Knot, there was a new space filled in with the word Healers. There were now three new pictures attached to that spot of the three doctors that had been found killed. There was also something added to the bottom. A paper with five names. One of them, Ennis, was crossed off. The sheriff narrowed his eyes. That name seemed familiar to him for some reason. It was like on the back of his mind somewhere. The paper had two strings tacked on in. One of those strings went to a photo of Scott while another was connected to Stiles' own picture though the string was tacked on just above the name Deucalion. His eyes widened at that. The way that his son arranged that…it looked like he and Scott were targets to these people.

"Son," he mumbled as he ran his hand over his and Scott's pictures. "What is going on?"

He knew that he said to Melissa that he would wait for Stiles to come to him...but if his son was in trouble then it looked like he would have to finally put his foot down.

* * *

 _Derek was in the cellar holding his head down in silence, until his mother came in._

" _Derek," she said to him._

" _I did something," he cried. "Something terrible."_

 _Talia went and kneeled down in front of him. "I know," she said softly to him. She then went and lifted his head up so she could look at him._

 _But Derek kept his eyes shut. "My eyes, they're different."_

 _She nodded. "Different, but still beautiful. Just like the rest of you."_

 _Derek then opened them to look at his mother with his new blue eyes._

That experience played sadly on Derek's mind as he walked through the old distillery and looked up at the spiral that had been carved into the metal years ago.


	16. The Girl Who Knew Too Much

Chapter 16: The Girl Who Knew Too Much

A deputy was moving through the halls of Beacon Hills High School to see to a distress call. The halls were dark and quiet, or at least they were supposed to be before there was a sharp noise and the deputy turned around to find half a dozen kids starting to roam the halls.

"What are all of you kids doing here so late?" she asked them.

Danny was the one to answer. "Practice for the recital tomorrow," he explained. "Why? Is there something wrong?" He then noticed the gun ready in the deputy's hand. "There is something wrong, isn't there?"

"Someone made a 911 call. All of you need to leave now. If you see anyone else, tell them the same thing," she instructed them. Danny and the others then left leaving the deputy to resume her check of the school. She went to her radio. "Dispatch. This is Unit 10. Copy." But there was only static as the answer. "Dispatch, do you copy?" she tried again. She listened again and the static was now gone but there wasn't an answer from dispatch. Instead, there was some low toned chanting sounding from her radio. A sudden noise from behind made her jump and pull out her gun fully. She started to roam and found that the sound seem to come from the locker room. "This is Deputy Graham with the Sheriff's Department!" she called out. "Step out with your hands in the air!" But there was nothing but she could feel someone was there. "This is the Sheriff's Department. Come out now!" she said more forcefully. There was still silence as she lightly stepped further in.

She made her way to the shower and found that the water was running. She lightly stepped in and gasped as she saw a body of a girl leaning against the wall. She stepped back but was then grabbed from behind and had a cord wrap around her throat. From behind was a cloaked figure with a pale and disfigured face. The Darach, and the deputy was strangled even more fiercely until her breath gave out.

* * *

Scott and Stiles were standing on one side of the metal table in the animal clinic, where there were a few papers and prints spread about. A few of them had images of wolf like creatures depicted on them. Deaton was on the other side of the table letting it all sink in. Stiles had been staring at all the pictures gobsmacked.

Scott tore his eyes away from a painted portrait of a giant wolf. "I still don't get it," he said shaking his head. "What exactly is Stiles?"

"Essentially a Beast is a werewolf that is capable of shapeshifting in a wolf form. However, instead of becoming a normal wolf like some other werewolves shift into, they could turn into a giant, bestial version of one. Perhaps twice or even three times normal size."

Both Scott and Stiles suddenly had a flash of when they fought against Peter when he was an Alpha. The monstrous beast form that he had when he was terrorizing the town and tried to kill them with.

"Wait…are you saying that I'm going to become some giant monster, like Peter?" Stiles quickly asked him.

Deaton calmly caught his eye and shook his head. "No, not quite. The form that Peter assumed was merely a representation of his madness. One that a feral and rage driven Alpha could take but he wasn't an actual beast. Think of his transformation as more of an imitation."

"You mean, like a knock off?" he asked him.

Deaton softly nodded. "In a sense. What you seem to be changing into is the purest version. It's actually what the entire werewolf legend was based upon. What most popular and basic werewolf lore had come from. They are the strongest class of werewolves to be known. Most conventional weaknesses and vulnerabilities that werewolves have seem less effective or even non-existent for a Beast."

"You mean like when I broke the Mountain Ash line?" said Stiles recalling the what happened the night of the Rave.

"And you having a stronger resistance to the wolfsbane back at Glen Capri," Scott added.

"But…why is it happening to me?" Stiles asked him a bit frightfully. "I know that I've been a 'natural'" he said making air quotes with his fingers. "Since I got turned but I didn't ask for this." He didn't like the idea of being something straight from The Howling.

"I can understand that, but if you take a moment and think about it, it's not too surprising."

"What do you mean?" asked Scott.

"From what I understand, Beasts don't typically fall under the standard Alpha, Beta or Omega classification. Scott, I told you that I've been paying attention to you since you were bitten. You're becoming an Alpha because you are an innate leader. It's in your character, you nature, to hold the reins and take charge of situations as well as those around you."

Stiles caught Scott's eyes and saw that he was agreeing with Deaton. Scott did tend to take charge in a crisis and get everyone to listen a good deal of the time.

Deaton continued. "Well, I've also been watching Stiles as well. While most people seem to either be leaders, followers or loners, Stiles seems to belong to them all."

Now Stiles straightened up and narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"When situations arise you seem to have no trouble from trying to handle things on your own, to working with others, to taking control of the situation and directing others. You frequently move about from being an Omega, Beta and Alpha."

Scott narrowed his eyes. He had to admit, Deaton had a point. Stiles had acted on his own well enough when he was trying to move against Gerard and his hunters. He had also easily worked alongside Derek, his pack and himself a few times. And, Stiles had taken charge a few times, even with himself.

Deaton wasn't finished. "Beasts are also more animalistic than most other werewolves. Have more of a bestial nature. Stiles has always seemed to have very strong instincts that he uses and follows very frequently. You're in harmony with your animal half. It explains why you have always had an easier time at controlling yourself than others, even at a full moon. And how you've been able to tap into your abilities so quickly and naturally."

Stiles' jaw tightened. "Peter once told me that he thought I was born for all of this."

Scott had always felt Stiles seemed better with being a werewolf than he did from the start. He secretly thought Stiles even loved all of this when they were first turned. Scott let his eyes linger on a picture of a man like wolf. "You said that you believed that I would become a True Alpha. Did you believe Stiles would become a Beast?" he asked his boss.

"Honestly, no, I didn't. It has rarely been seen through history. The last documented sighting of a Beast was in France roughly over 200 years ago."

Stiles' eyes widened. "The Beast of Gevaudan," he mumbled.

Scott stiffened. He knew the story all too well. It was the legacy of Allison's family. An ancestor of theirs had killed the Beast and that was what started their whole hunting tradition.

Deaton nodded. "Yes. A werewolf who had risen to a Beast and with his power went on an infamous killing spree that left countless people dead. Even the native packs feared the Beast's power and any that tried to challenge it were destroyed."

Scott let a tired breath loose. "And that's why Deucalion's after Stiles. He wants to have that kind of power for himself."

"Yes. Deucalion already is one of the fiercest werewolves I've seen but he sees Stiles as his chance to reach a rank of legend. As a beast, with his pack of Alphas, Kali and the twins" He then looked over at Scott. "As well as a True Alpha-"

"He would be invincible," Scott finished for him. "Nothing would be able to stop him."

Stiles furiously ran his hand across his jaw as he looked at the image of a giant wolf monster baring its claws. "Is there any way to stop me from becoming a Beast? Or even stop Scott from becoming an Alpha. I mean, if we don't turn into an Alpha or Beast then Deucalion wouldn't have a reason to hang around."

Deaton gave him a sad smile. "I'm afraid it's that not simple Stiles. You're both ascending by your very natures. Both of you have tapped into your dormant power a few times already. It wants to come out and it's only a matter of time before it fully emerges and Deucalion knows that."

Stiles let out a defeated huff as he looked at the pictures of Le Bete. "Great. So Scott's nature makes him an Alpha and mine makes me a monster?" he asked in mild despair.

"Stiles," Scott said pointedly. "You're not a monster."

"Really Scott?" Stiles said heatedly. "Have you been listening to the same history lesson as I have? I'm turning into what most of those stories about werewolves being flesh tearing and limb ripping savage monsters come from."

"You're right, Beasts are savage," Deaton said softly. "But, that doesn't mean that they have to be monsters." That made both boys look back at him in confusion. Deaton went to a folder and pulled out some more papers. He showed them what seemed to be a medieval shield that had a wolf depicted on it. "The Beast of Gevaudan isn't the only story of its kind. There is another story far older: The Beast of Wolfsburg. The tale commonly known is that in Wolfsburg, Germany during the 12th Century, there was a great amount of fear and suffering plaguing the town. However, that changed when a guardian spirit, a wolf came to resolve and quell the chaos bringing order. The ruling nobles then fashioned their coat of arms in honor of this guardian. The lesser known story is that there was a great deal of fighting between werewolf packs that sought to claim and dominate the territory for themselves. Many of the townspeople were caught in the crossfire and were killed in their battles. The Beast was one of the victims. He was turned in one of the many attacks but he rose to the rank of Beast and used his power to try and protect the town and its people. Over time, eventually he took charge of the packs and forged a cooperative truce amongst them."

Scott narrowed his eyes as he recalled what Gerard had told him. "That sounds like Derek's mother."

Deaton smiled sadly. "Years ago I, along with a great many others, thought Talia Hale would evolve into a Beast. She was stronger and more special than the average Alpha, with the rare ability of shapeshifting into a wolf. She brokered and maintained peace and cooperation among different packs in the surrounding counties and fought to protect the town. Yet, it seemed like it just wasn't her destiny. But, perhaps it could be yours; that is if you truly want it."

Stiles' eyes got a little shiny as he looked back down at all of the scattered lore. Stiles didn't know if he really understood or believed what Deaton was telling him, but what he did know was that he couldn't let Deucalion get this power. He'd seen what the Alpha could do with the power he already had and didn't want to think of what he would do if he managed to turn into some kind of super powerful werewolf beast. Both Scott and Deaton looked at him somberly for a few moments before Stiles' phone started ringing unexpectedly.

"It's Lydia," he said to them when he looked at the screen.

* * *

Scott and Stiles quickly rode into the school parking lot on their bike and jeep respectively.

Stiles quickly got out and went to Scott. "Where is she?" he asked.

"Over here."

Scott and Stiles looked over and saw Allison stepping out of a corner with Lydia right beside her. Scott and Stiles moved over to see that Lydia looked freaked out.

"Lydia?" Stiles asked her in concern.

"It's the same thing," she said to them. "The same thing as the pool. I got into the car, headings were totally different and I ended up here. You told me to call you if there was another body."

"You found another dead body?" Stiles asked her.

She shook her head. "Not yet."

"Not yet? What do you mean 'not yet'? You didn't find it?" Stiles asked her confused.

"No. I called Allison and you as soon as I got here."

Stiles' eyes widened. "Lydia, you're supposed to call us _after_ you find the dead body."

"Oh no," Lydia fiercely shook her head. "I'm so not going to do that. You guys can find the body."

"How?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Sniff it out or something."

That made Stiles scoff. "Lydia, we don't always have our noses sniffing around everywhere, all the time. You're the one that always finds the dead bodies, no matter what."

"So, I'm the only one that should find the dead bodies?" she asked him a bit freaked.

"Yes. When we can't."

Scott's nose twitched and he looked over to the side. "Guys," he cut in. "I found the dead body."

They looked over and saw the dead body. The body of a deputy that Stiles instantly recognized as Tara Graham. She was perched on the school sign, her blood dripping out all over it.

* * *

The sheriff was moving through the house in his full uniform. "Stiles?" he called out.

"In here," Stiles called from his room.

He came to the doorway and saw that Stiles was sitting at the corner of his bed, looking down at his hands. "Stiles?" he said as he started to step inside. "I got your message. You said that there was an emergency. I can't stay long-"

"Because of Tara," Stiles mumbled as he began rubbing his hands. "Yeah, I know."

His father's face hardened. "So, it's safe to say I don't have to wonder where the anonymous call about the body came from."

Stiles finally looked up at his father and showed his slightly red eyes. Tara meant a lot to him growing up and with her death, Stiles made up his mind. She was a sacrifice and though he didn't know what sacrifice category she fell under, she shared a very important similarity with her father. The shield on his chest. "Yeah," he said wiping his nose and standing up. "Listen, dad, I think we need to talk."

The sheriff stiff composure loosened a bit. He thought Stiles seemed unusually tense and nervous. Even scared. "What's wrong?"

"Uh…I have to tell you something. Actually, a lot of somethings. And I need you to listen to me."

The sheriff suddenly recalled his talk with Melissa. She told him that he had to be patient and wait for Stiles to finally come to him with the truth. She had also said that he would be scared when he did. Based on how his son was acting right now, it was a good bet that his waiting was over.

"Okay." He then folded his arms. "I'm listening."

Stiles took a deep breath. ' _Okay, here goes_ ,' he thought as he breathed it out. "Yeah, okay. There's just so much I have to tell you and its…well a lot." His nerves were rattled. He could face down a monster Alpha, a killer lizard, armed hunters and an Alpha Pack but he was trembling just trying to talk with his father. "It's all connected with everything that's been going on all year, and with what's happening now. I just don't know the best place to start."

"Well…why not start at the beginning?" his dad suggested. He tried not push. It looked like he would finally get some real answers to what was happening and finally make sense of what was going on with these murders and with his son and his friends.

"Alright. Well…I guess it all started at the beginning of the year. The night you got the call about the severed body in the woods."

"The night that you and Scott snuck out to try and find?" he said a bit scoldingly.

"Yeah," he said calmly. "Well, when we were out there, we kind of got…attacked. Don't worry," he said quickly when he saw his dad's eyes widened.

But his dad wasn't calmed by that at all. "You were attacked? By who?! Is it the same one that's killing these people now?! Did you get attacked again?" he asked remembering the bloodied clothes he found in his son's closet.

Stiles deflated and held his hands up. "Dad, just wait. Please." His father settled but still looked agitated. "That night, Scott and I were attacked but not by a person, well not really." His dad's eyes fell in confusion. "We were bitten that night."

"You mean…an animal attacked you two?" he asked confused. "But, I don't remember seeing either one of you boys having any injuries."

Stiles shut his eyes. "That's because werewolf bites heal quickly. It was a werewolf that attacked us that night. The same werewolf that killed all those people linked to Kate Argent." He then opened them up to look back at his father who was glaring at him.

"Stiles, I thought you were going to be serious with me," he said leaking his frustration and impatience for Stiles to smell.

"I am being serious dad!" Stiles almost roared out. But he took a deep breath. He didn't need to shift. He couldn't let his dad see him like that. He wasn't ready. "Okay, this is what's been going on. Why I'm been so involved with everything. All of those weird and bloody deaths. It's because the killers weren't human, not really. And…neither am I. And the same thing is happening now with these new deaths."

His father's glare didn't disappear. In fact, he looked even angrier. "Stiles, I'm tired of these games. Okay, now I've _tried_ to be patient and understanding with you but enough is enough. It's time for you to finally stop goofing off and tell me-"

But Stiles didn't let his father finish his rant. Stiles went over to his desk where he pulled out a pair of scissors and then ran the blade across the open palm of his hand. A bright red line appeared right there in plain sight.

"Stiles!" his father gasped out in terror as he ran to grab his hand holding the scissors. "What the hell's wrong with you?!"

"Dad!" Stiles cried. "Look." The sheriff looked down at Stiles cut hand and saw the skin begin to slowly knit itself back together. A few seconds later, there was no trace of the cut anywhere. Stiles looked up in time to catch his dad's eyes but then his father backed away a step as he stared at him like he didn't know who he was. Stiles' heart went cold.

* * *

Allison was in her room, in bed, as her father stepped in and went to sit at the foot of her bed. She had claimed that she wanted to cash in his offer to not go to school from the first day in light of the recent death.

"I heard about the recital tonight. The thing to honor the losses at the school."

"They were murders dad," Allison lightly said as she tightened her hold of her blanket. "Not losses."

"But your friends will be there, right?" he pointed out.

She nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

"Want me to take you?" he gently offered.

Allison just shook her head. "I don't think I'm feeling up for it."

"Okay…I get it." He then moved to leave her room. He stopped at the door before he could and looked back at her. "Take as many days as you need. School can wait."

As soon as he closed the door behind him, Allison hopped out from under the covers to reveal that she was fully dressed. She quickly moved for her closet and headed for her case of ring daggers. As she pulled one out, she heard a noise behind her. She turned and saw that one of her windows was ajar. She quietly moved for it and then yanked it open. She saw that there was someone there and threw them to the ground and moved to put the dagger to their throat. She froze when she saw that it was Isaac.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked him.

Isaac looked up at her as the dagger was still over his throat. "You weren't at school."

"Scott sent you to check up on me?" she asked a bit indigently.

"Maybe he's worried about you," he tried to defend.

Allison just smirked at him. "I can take care of myself."

"Yeah. I've noticed," Isaac smirked back at her. He then looked down at the dagger at his throat. "More than once."

Allison let a small laugh out.

* * *

Over at school, the sheriff was talking with the principal and some federal officials when he spotted Stiles watching them.

After the show in Stiles' room last night, he claimed that he had to head back to the station and just left without another word. He had gone and stayed in his office all night. A thousand scenarios played through his head about what he saw. From it being a stupid stunt his son was playing on him to him losing his mind and seeing things. But as he let the possibilities start rolling around in his head, he was finding some of the things that had been happening over the last few months begin to make a scary amount of sense. One that he didn't even want to consider. He didn't realize that he had fallen asleep in his chair until one of his deputies shook him awake that morning. There were a few bags in his eyes from his longer than average night.

The sheriff cleared his throat and looked away from his son back to others. "Excuse me," he said to them as he moved for his son who just stayed there waiting for him. "Stiles, go to class, please," he said in an exhausted and tired tone of voice.

Stiles just stayed rooted to the floor as he looked at his father sternly. "Dad, we need to talk about this. Really talk."

"Stiles, please, go to class and let me do my job."

"That's just it dad. You can't do your job until you know everything."

But the sheriff's face went hard. "Stiles, just go," he said shortly to him making his son flinch. The sight of his son doing that made him take a deep breath to try and settle himself. "I'm sorry. Look, I get it. Your evidence board, the one that you've been hiding in your room, I saw it. I know that you think that all of this has something to do with patterns and people dying in threes."

"Murdered dad," Stiles said. "Sacrificed actually."

"Okay…I get that you feel strongly about all of this, especially after Heather. Maybe enough to pull some kind of…trick on me."

"Dad," Stiles cut in. "It wasn't a trick. You know what you saw."

"But the jokes over," he said as if Stiles hadn't interrupted. "Half the state and the FBI are coming in on this. I don't have any time for games."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Dad, they killed Tara. She used to help me with my homework. Do you think I would joke about something like this? You have to listen to me."

"Please Stiles…go to class. Okay?" he asked in a begging sort of voice.

Stiles stared at his dad for a moment before he let out a frustrated huff from his nose and moved off for class. As his son left, the sheriff suddenly had a flash of a broken girl holding onto him with a bloodied hand. He shook himself from that bad memory and moved back towards the principal.

Stiles moved to lean against a nearby wall and ran his hand furiously across his face. His dad was refusing to believe him. He could hear his father's heartbeat when he was trying to reason what he saw away. He could smell his dad's nervousness as he argued with him. He was hesitating. Or was scared. Maybe both. But, he had to get his dad to listen to what he said. He just hoped that he didn't lose him. To the Darach…or to himself.

* * *

Ms. Blake walked across her class as she began her lecture to them as a whole.

"Idioms, analogies, metaphors and similes. All tools that the writer uses to tell their story." She then stopped when she noticed that Lydia wasn't taking notes, but was drawing a sketch of a tree. "Lydia, I had no idea you had so many hidden talents."

Lydia put the pen down and smiled at Ms. Blake. "You and every guy I've ever dated."

Blake shook her head. "Oh, well, that was an idiom by the way."

Stiles was sitting in front of Lydia and had his head down staring at a blank piece of paper. He wasn't taking notes. In fact, he wasn't listening really to anything going on. His problems with his father and what could happen between them now was consuming his mind. So, he nearly jumped when his nostrils flared suddenly. He smelled…fear. And then anxiousness. A lot of it. And, it was coming up next to him.

"Idioms are something of a secret to the people that know the language or the culture," Ms. Blake said before stopping in front of Stiles.

Stiles stared up at her. The sudden emotional scents he picked up came from Blake but as she looked at him, he suddenly began to smell honey. From her shampoo or lotion or whatever she had on. Stiles looked up at her as she eyed both him and Scott tensely. No doubt she was remembering that they were werewolves.

She continued. "They're phrases that only make sense if you know key words. Like saying: Jump the Gun. It's meaningful if you know about the starting gun in a race. Or a phrase like, seeing the whole board."

"Like chess," Stiles mumbled.

She then smiled at him. "That's right Stiles. You play?"

"Uh, no, my father does," he said glumly. Ms. Blake nodded at him with a tense smile before she quickly turned and tried to move away from him. At that, Stiles narrowed his eyes. That was strange. His father was next to him less than an hour ago and he could pick up each of his emotions like a book. But, with Ms. Blake, he couldn't. Not the slightest bit except for when she had been approaching him from behind. It was clear that she was feeling a lot of things when it came to them, especially since he saw her last when Boyd was killed, but he couldn't smell any of it from her right now. Only the scent of honey from soap or perfume. Almost like…it was being masked.

But his thoughts were interrupted when Scott leaned over to him. "I think we can get to Ethan," he said to him. "I'm pretty sure I can make him talk."

Stiles widened his eyes. "Why do you want him to do that for? We already know what Deucalion wants with the two of us."

"No, not about us. Look, the druids are emissaries, right? So, what if the Darach was an emissary to the Alphas?"

"Okay, first of all, I can't believe that we have gotten to the point where a sentence like: What if the Darach is an emissary to the Alphas, actually makes any kind of sense. And second, yeah, Ethan might talk but we're going to have a problem getting to him."

"What's that?" Scott couldn't see one.

Stiles caught his eye. "Going through Aiden," he answered. "Ever since he came back to school, they're always together. How are we going to separate them again?"

Scott hated to admit it but Stiles had a valid point. Aiden wouldn't leave his brother's side unless something forced him to…or maybe someone. At that thought he looked over at Stiles and it seemed like he shared the same epiphany. There was someone who could get Aiden away from Ethan. Easily, actually. They both then turned around to look over at Lydia.

Lydia looked up at the two of them and saw the expressions they were sporting. "What now?" she asked them.

* * *

Aiden went and slammed himself against the lockers as he stared his brother down. "This whole thing with Danny has to stop."

"He's harmless," Ethan said not batting an eye before looking at his brother. "And Lydia is the one that we should be worrying about," he said pointedly.

Aiden backed up a smidge. "Then why are you still talking to Danny?"

"What difference does it make?"

Aiden smirked at him. "What do you think we're doing here? You do know that we're not actual high school students, right? We're here to eliminate a threat and make our pack unstoppable. Not hold hands and pass notes in class," he said a bit mockingly to him.

"And now we know he's harmless," Ethan said sternly. "Threat eliminated."

Aiden smirk widened. "You're starting to like him."

Ethan shrugged and looked away. "So what?"

"So? So, you're starting to forget your place brother. Our place," he said more heatedly. "That's why Deucalion had to punish you the other day, right? Because you were starting to get too chummy with Scott and his buddy Stiles because his mommy helped Danny."

"I owed them a debt," he nearly spat. "I think we both know what that feels like, right? Scott's mom helped me and Stiles helped me so I returned the favor. That's all. Besides, it's not like I really told them anything that they wouldn't have been able to learn on their own anyway."

"Oh, so that's it? It's done. Debts settled?" Aiden asked him heatedly.

"Yeah."

"So, if Deucalion asks you to kill them, to kill Danny, would you do it?"

"If Deucalion asked you, would you kill me?" he shot back.

Aiden's jaw tightened. "Stop, talking, to Danny," he warned him. "Or, I'm going to rip the flesh off his face," he said moving to leave. "And eat it," she hissed into his brother's other ear.

Ethan then savagely shut his locker shut.

* * *

Lydia pulled Aiden into the Coach's office for a small make-out session as per Scott and Stiles' asking. It started out as hard and fun as it usually was with the two of them, but Aiden froze in the middle of it. Lydia saw that he was staring at her a bit crestfallen.

"What's the look for?" she asked him.

"Nothing. It's just…I'm kind of surprised. You've barely talked to me since-" He wasn't going to finish that sentence.

"Since what?" Lydia said a bit hard. "Since you killed Boyd?" she finished for him.

"I told you that was Kali. I didn't have a choice."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I thought you were all Alphas?" she said a bit testily.

"Yeah? Well, it's not as democratic as it sounds. If you think I should be filled with remorse, try to remember that Derek killed Ennis."

"So it's his turn to kill someone now? Is that it?"

Aiden's face hardened a bit. "Maybe. Maybe like the time he and Boyd tried to kill you."

Lydia's eyes narrowed. "How did you know about that?"

They stared at each other for a second before there was a sudden slam against the door. They looked and saw a clawed finger scratching the stained window and scratching in a spiral.

"What the hell is that?" Lydia asked.

Aiden glared at the mark. "Derek."

* * *

Ethan had moving down the stairs but stopped at a landing when he saw Scott and Stiles standing there, apparently in wait. They found out Ethan's schedule and moved to intercept them now that Aiden was distracted.

"Why are you even talking to me?" Ethan asked Scott. "I helped kill your friend. What makes you think I'm not going to help kill another one?"

Stiles narrowed his eyes as he saw Ethan's eyes wander to him. The sight of Boyd's body played back for him as well as the looks on both Derek and Cora's faces when they saw it as well. "Is he looking at me? Are you threatening me?" he asked a bit louder. "You know what, try it and I'm going to break off an extra-large branch of mountain ash, wrap it wolfsbane, roll it mistletoe and shove it right up your-"

Scott grabbed at Stiles' shoulder and pushed him back a bit. "Stiles, okay, we get it. Calm down." Stiles spared Scott a look and then took a deep breath and let it out in a long heated breath. Scott knew that Stiles was feeling more agitated then normal with everything that was going on with his dad and how he was reacting. He understood what he was feeling perfectly but they couldn't lose focus now if they were going to stop the Darach. He then looked back at Ethan. "We're talking to you because I don't think you wanted to kill Boyd. I think if something like that were to happen now, you wouldn't do it again."

Ethan narrowed his eyes at Scott and shook his head. "You don't know what we owe them. Especially Deucalion. We weren't like Kali and Ennis when we met him. We weren't Alphas."

"What were you?" Scott asked.

"Omegas."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "You were lone wolves?"

Ethan shook his head. "No. You see, in actual wolf packs, the Omegas are the scapegoat. The last to eat. The ones who have to take the abuse from the rest of the pack."

Stiles eyes fell a bit. "Huh…so that's what that was."

Ethan and Scott turned to look at him. "What?" Scott asked him.

"That night, at the mall, before I threw you two back, I saw it. I felt it. Getting beat up and clawed by other werewolves leering and laughing at me. That was one of your memories, wasn't it? You and your brother being your pack's bitches."

"Yeah, the good old days," Ethan angrily spat out almost silently.

Scott couldn't help but feel sympathetic. And he could tell Stiles was too. They knew what it was like to be picked on before they went through their change. "What happened?"

"They were killers. I mean, people talk about us as monsters, but they were the ones who gave us the reputation. And our Alpha, was the worst of them."

Stiles shook his head. "Then why didn't you guys just fight back? You know, form Voltron wolf and kick their asses?"

"We couldn't! We didn't know how to control it back then."

"And Deucalion taught you how," Scott realized.

"And then we fought," Ethan gasped. "We took down the whole pack. All of them, one by one," he said sounding more savage as he went on. Stiles could practically taste the bitter satisfaction coming out of Ethan. Scott could too. "And by the time we got to our Alpha, he was begging for his life! And we tore him apart. Literally," he finished with a calming breath.

Scott's jaw tightened a bit. "And what about your emissary?" Ethan's expression was answer enough. "They're all dead? Kali and Ennis' too?"

"All of them except for Deucalion," said Ethan.

"You mean Morrell?" Stiles asked sharing a look with Scott.

It seemed that they had a new possible suspect for the Darach after all.

But then Ethan started to gasp hard as he grabbed at his chest.

Scott nearly jumped. "What? Are you hurt?"

"No," Ethan gasped out. "Not me…my brother."

* * *

Aiden stormed out of Coach's office and roared "Derek!" with Lydia right at his side.

"Aiden, stop, please!" she said trying to reason with him.

But Aiden wasn't budging. "I'm right here Derek!"

"I'll scream!" she warned him.

But Aiden still wouldn't budge. "You want to fight Derek?! Come and get me!"

A shape then came and slammed into him from around the corner. But it wasn't Derek. It was Cora. She had pushed him against the wall and managed to slash at his chest with her claws. Aiden looked down at the wound and then roared at her flashing both his fangs and crimson eyes. Cora flashed her own fangs and golden eyes as she made another swipe at him. But Aiden caught her by the wrist and went to get a tight grip at her throat. He then lifted her off her feet and threw her across the room until she slid down and hit the far wall. Aiden then went over to a set of weights and pulled one off the rack.

Lydia watched as he started to stomp over to Cora with that weight and realized what he was planning to do. "Aiden! Aiden stop!" Lydia yelled at him.

But Aiden didn't stop. He just walked over and swung the weight right across the top of Cora's head. Lydia went over to Cora's side and looked up to see that Aiden was coming over to punish Cora further. But he didn't get that far as something came and pushed him back. Lydia gasped and saw that it was Stiles and he was now staring Aiden down. Aiden moved to strike at Stiles but his brother then grabbed at his arm before Scott moved at his other side and grabbed him there. Both of them then tried to yank the weight from Aiden and keep him back while Stiles turned around and saw that Cora was hurt so he leaned on next to her. Ethan pushed the weight from his brother's grip and it fell to the ground with a hard clatter.

"Aiden, you can't do this!" Ethan spat at him.

"She came at me!" Aiden spat back.

"It doesn't matter! Kali gave Derek until the next full moon. You can't touch him or her."

Aiden just stared down at Cora before his eyes went up to Lydia. She was looking at him with both sadness and fear.

Stiles turned back and saw the hurt in Lydia's eyes and clenched his fist before he stood up. "Get out," he hissed. "The both of you," he said before looking from Aiden to Ethan who were staring right at him. But he noticed that Aiden seemed to look back in Lydia's direction again and that made Stiles just shake his head. "You don't deserve her," he said to Aiden before turning to Ethan. "And you don't deserve Danny. They're both too good for either one of you."

Ethan looked over at Scott but he just looked back at him with his own eyes narrowed. He pushed his head forward to silently tell him that he and his brother had to leave. Ethan grabbed at his brother's sleeve and the two of them made their way out of the locker room.

Stiles then turned around to see Cora lightly being handled by Lydia. She didn't seem to be doing very well. He felt himself feel a little cold at the sight of her head bleeding like that.

Cora slowly opened her eyes to see Scott, Stiles and Lydia looking down on her but she quickly rolled to the side and got to her feet but nearly stumbled. Scott and Stiles moved to help her but she held her arm up at them. "I got it." She then went and started to try and clean the blood from her head by the sink.

"You okay?" Scott asked.

"She doesn't look okay," Lydia mumbled.

Stiles stepped forward. "Here. Let me take some pain away."

But Stiles' hand was slapped away. "I'll heal," Cora said sharply to him. "I don't need your help."

"Yeah, well I beg to differ," Stiles said being sharp at her. "Do you have any idea who suicidally crazy that was? What were you thinking?"

"I did it for Boyd," she hissed at him. "None of you were doing anything."

"We're trying," Scott said to her.

"And you're failing," she spat at him. "You…you still think that you can run around and stop people from getting killed? All you're doing is taking your friends around with you and showing up too late. You think you're helping…but what you're really doing is just, finding the bodies. How long is it going to be until you finally decide to do something Scott? Before or after you find Stiles' torn up body?" Cora then went to look over at Stiles' hardened eyes for a moment before she turned away.

She then moved to leave the three of them staring after her as she walked out of the locker room. Scott and Lydia looked over at Stiles whose eyes were still following her until she fully left the room. Lydia's eyes widened as she could guess what Cora's expression and Stiles' looks at Cora seemed to mean. Though Scott was still feeling a little uncomfortable with that verbal shot that Cora took at him to really put much thought into it.

When Cora was out of sight he coughed and began to rub the back of his neck unconsciously. "Well…she's definitely a Hale," he said uncomfortably. "I'll make sure she gets home." He then left to go after her.

"Funny," Lydia said after Stiles was gone too. "I never would've guessed she was his type."

Scott's eyes widened. "Who? Cora and Stiles?" he said in disbelief.

She shrugged. "And they say it's always the quiet ones." She then started to leave.

Scott just stood there shaking his head at how, crazy, the idea of it was before he left the locker room too.

* * *

Isaac followed after Allison as she moved for her father's office.

"Wait, you think your father is the killer?" he asked her.

"No," she snapped quickly at him before she shook her head. "I mean, I don't think so. I hope he isn't."

"You hope he isn't?" Isaac repeated. "The serial killing dark druid that's been slashing people's throats?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Right," he nodded back.

"Now, do you want to help me now," she said as she got to his desk.

"Yeah. I'm just trying to get all the cards on the table here," Isaac said a little absentminded.

Allison let a small smile loose at that before she went to pick up the black light and flashed it on the map. "See the marks," she said as she highlighted where her father had marked on the map. "They're for bodies to be found but it doesn't say who the bodies are." But Allison looked over and saw that Isaac was backing away slowly. "What are you doing?"

"Something I learned from my father. Take a step back and look at the whole picture. Sometimes you see things you wouldn't notice up close when all you're looking at is the details."

Allison went and took a step back from the map, to stand with Isaac as she tried it for herself. She stared at the whole map, but then her eyes widened. "Look at that. You see that?" she said as she looked over at the table itself.

"What?" Isaac said. Allison then went and took the map away to show that there was a symbol fixed into the table. "Wait…isn't that-"

"The Five Fold Knot. It's a Celtic symbol."

"Yeah," Isaac nodded. "I know. Scott told me about it. Said that Stiles was using it to try and connect all the sacrifices." He then pointed up at the individual knots. "He wrote a sacrifice into each one." Allison then reached for the black light and flashed it into the nearest knot. "Virgins," he read aloud as it appeared.

Then Allison moved it to another. "Warriors."

"Healers," Isaac said as they looked at another.

That was the three that they already knew. With the death of the deputy, it meant that the Darach was moving onto a new category.

Allison moved the black light to another knot. "Philosophers."

Then the light was over the center knot and highlighted the last one. "Guardians." Isaac muttered.

They now had it. The five sacrifice groups…or rather Allison's father had it. Why did he already have them…unless he was committing them?

* * *

Jennifer Blake was moving down the stairs of the school quad and froze when she caught sight of Derek walking up, fully healed and looking as good as ever. She ran over and moved to give him a hard kiss which he returned full heartedly and even lifted her feet slightly off the ground. They stayed glued together until Jennifer had to break away for some air.

"Where the hell have you been?" she gasped out. "And don't say that you needed to be alone for a while because that is the single worst excuse ever." But then she looked into his eyes. His sad eyes and then she remembered the very last time that she had seen him, over the body of Boyd. "Oh," she said feeling embarrassed. "I'm sorry. You really needed to be alone, didn't you?"

"I'm here now," Derek mumbled. "And you're safe. Trust me."

"I haven't really felt safe. Partly because those twins are walking around the school like nothing happened."

Derek shook his head. "They're not going to hurt you."

They slowly smiled at one another and were leaning in closer to share another kiss when the school bell sounded and made them break apart, annoyed.

Jennifer let out a frustrated huff. "Some days, I just want to take a sledge hammer to that bell."

That made Derek smile. "Why don't you just come back with me?"

That made her let out a pained groan. "I can't. I've got three more classes and I put together the recital tonight. I organized it to…honor the losses at the school. Now…it just sounds really stupid, doesn't it?"

"No," Derek mumbled softly to her. "It sounds perfect."

They then moved to steal another quick kiss before Jennifer had to leave to head back inside. Derek stared after her with a soft expression on his face.

* * *

Stiles was in his jeep with Cora sitting beside him. It was very quiet in there as Stiles tried to keep his eyes on the road while Cora just stared down at her feet. Cora was upset at failing to get to Aiden but Stiles was nervous. Mainly because this was the first time that the two of them were alone since their night together. He was so nervous that Cora could easily detect it.

She rolled her eyes. "You can relax Stiles. We didn't try to kill one another. We just slept together."

Stiles spared her a look. "Oh is that all we did," he said sarcastically. She narrowed his eyes at him before he deflated. "It's just…well, look, this is kind of uncharted territory for me. I don't really know what to do from here."

Then Stiles phone started ringing and they saw that Isaac was the one who was calling. "Well, you could answer the phone," she bluntly suggested.

"Sounds good to me. Yeah?" Stiles said when he put his phone on speaker.

"We found something over in Argent's office," he said to him.

His nervousness vanished and he became focused. "What is it?" Stiles asked him.

But it wasn't Isaac who answered. It was Allison. "The next two sacrifice groups."

Allison felt that Stiles might ignore her call if she tried to call him herself so she needed Isaac to do it. Besides, with what they had just learned, Stiles needed to know immediately because this concerned him, or rather his father.

Stiles swallowed his discomfort. "What are they?"

"Philosophers and Guardians," she said. "Which, after last night's murder, has to mean law enforcement. Like your dad. Stiles, you have to tell him. You have to warn him."

"I tried!" Stiles shot back, but it wasn't in anger. It was in fear. "I told him everything but he didn't want to believe me."

"Everything? Even about-"

"The whole werewolf thing," Stiles finished for her. "Yeah. I cut my hand in front of him and he saw it heal with his own eyes but he thinks I was somehow pulling a trick on him."

"That's not good enough," Allison said scoldingly. "You have to do better. He needs to believe. You have to warn him."

"Okay, okay, I know," he said before moving to hang up the phone. Stiles then let out a hard and heated puff of air.

Cora could practically taste Stiles' discomfort flowing out of him. "What are you going to do?" she asked him.

Stiles tightened his jaw. "The very last thing that I want to do." He would have to shift in front of his dad, fully and completely out in the open. He then turned to Cora. "Do you mind coming over and helping me out?" Having another one there might help in keeping his dad from still denying it and force him to take what he was saying seriously.

She looked back at him with a soft expression on her face and nodded. "Yeah."

* * *

Ms. Morrell was going through some files in her office when she heard someone come in and sit down at her desk. "Sorry, I don't remember having any more appointments." But she looked up at the one who came in and stilled.

"You sure?" Scott said to her. "Because I could use a little guidance right now."

Morrell went and closed the file cabinet, hard.


	17. The Girl Who Knew Too Much part 2

Chapter 17: The Girl Who Knew Too Much part 2

Stiles was taping colored papers with names to his chess pieces while Cora was looking at the evidence board he made with all of the information about the Darach's victims and The Alpha Pack.

"Wow." Cora wouldn't pretend to be an expert with crime investigations but this almost seemed professional. Especially given that the supernatural was involved with everything. "You organized all of this yourself?" she asked him.

Stiles lifted his head a bit. "You sound surprised," he said raising his eyebrow over in her direction.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Maybe I am. I guess you just didn't seem like the type."

"Oh, and what type do I look like?" he said with a bit of a challenge hinted in his tone.

Cora shrugged. "I don't know. I guess the stay at home all day playing video games type. I'll admit, when I first met you, I thought you had that whole picked on nerd thing about you."

Stiles laughed. "Yeah, actually I used to be. Scott too. It feels like so long ago."

"What happened?"

"Uh, your uncle went and bit me and my best friend in the woods one night."

"Right. Sorry about that." She then walked over to see what he was setting up. "How exactly is all this going to clear things up to your dad? Wouldn't it be easier just to shift in front of him first and then tell him what's going on?"

"It's kind of our thing. My dad and I always seem to make sense of confusing things when they're laid out, especially on a board. And, he's the one that taught me how to play chess. Said that his job is just like a chess game. Pieces moving, thinking three of four steps ahead, trying to guess where all the opposing pieces will be heading. I'm hoping it helps explain everything and keep us both calm. We're going to need to be if I'm going to stop him from getting taken to be one of the sacrifices." Cora nodded but then sucked on her teeth as she went and put her hand on the cut above her head. "Hey," Stiles said moving for her. "Is that still not healed?"

"It's just healing slowly," she tried to pass off like it was nothing. Stiles went to reach for it but Cora went to grip his hand before it could touch her forehead. "Really, I'm fine," she said a bit hard. "I can take care of myself."

"I'm just trying to help," he said softly to her.

"Well, you don't have to."

"I know, but I want to." Stiles looked over to his hand that was being gripped by Cora as he closed his fingers around it and his veins went black as he pulled some of her pain from her.

Cora took a soft breath but then let go and turned around. "Stop."

Stiles widened his eyes at her. "What, what is it?"

"Nothing," she breathed. "I just…I guess I'm just used to not needing help with, anything. I've had to learn to help myself and not…have help."

"From anyone? What about your brother?"

Cora let a small pained laugh out. "Derek kind of doesn't have a lot of experience being the big brother. Specially lately." Cora then moved to sit at the edge of Stiles' bed with sour look on her face. "Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't come back here at all. That he was better off thinking I was dead."

Stiles watched her for a second before he walked over and sat next to her. "I don't think that's true. I think learning that he was still a big brother was one of the happiest things to happen to him for a long time."

She kept her eyes firmly locked on her hands as she picked at her cuticles. She didn't want Stiles to see that she was close to crying. Anyone to see her crying at all. "How could you know that?" she tried to ask in a hard tone.

"Derek told me about your family once. Not much, he's not really the talking type. I guess being socially awkward is a Hale Family trait," he joked making Cora narrow her eyes at him making his smile flatten a bit. "But, when he told me about his family, I could feel he was happy talking about all of you. He only became sad when he came to the part of the fire. Because it took all of you away. Well, now he knows that is wasn't all of you. Trust me, now that he has you back, he doesn't want anything to take you from him."

Cora raised her head up and stared at him solemnly for a few seconds she slowly moved to give him a soft kiss at the side, near his lips. When she pulled away, they locked eyes for a moment before they closed them and slowly leaned in to join their lips in a small kiss. Unlike their last time together, where their kisses were hard and fiercely, this time was soft and sweet. They were taking time to gently lose themselves in each other and calmly appreciate the other. After about a minute, they separated from each other and were calmly staring back.

Cora slowly looked away as he went and wiped a trace of a tear that had fallen from her eye. "Thanks."

"Any time," Stiles breathed out with a small grin.

They slowly moved to kiss again but there was the sound of someone clearing their throat which made them look over to the door where they saw Stiles' dad and jumped apart.

"Sorry," he said to them as they straightened themselves out. Despite the earlier tension between the two of them, the Sheriff couldn't help but smile at his son being with a pretty girl in his room instead of a crime scene for once, like a normal teenager.

Stiles quickly got up. "Uh dad, um, this is Cora. Cora Hale."

His dad's eyes narrowed. "Hale? As in Derek Hale?"

"He's my older brother," she explained.

He nearly had his eyes pop out of his sockets at the sight of the girl but he shook himself out of it. "Oh…I'm sorry, it's just, I thought that all of Derek's relatives died in the fire six years back."

"Yeah, until a few weeks ago, so did the rest of us." Stiles then cleared his throat. "Dad, I think we have to finish that talk."

"Stiles, if this is just more stories-"

"Dad!" Stiles cut him off. "You need to listen. Because more people are about die. And…one of them may be you." His father's face fell a bit at that. Stiles then went over to the pieces that he already set up. "It's time for you to see the whole board."

* * *

Scott was sitting in front of Morrell's desk as he stared her down. She was looking at him with the same hard look that was on his face.

"Why are you bothering with me Scott when you know the clock is ticking?" she asked sternly. "When you know someone's going to be taken."

"By you?" he said to her.

She smirked at him. "Come on Scott, shouldn't you leave the interrogations to someone like Stilinski?"

But Scott didn't waver. "Are you the one killing people?"

"Are, you, listening…to my heartbeat," she said stressing every word sternly to him. "No, I'm not the one killing people."

Scott did listen and Morrell's heart was calm and steady. "But, you are the one that told Deucalion about me and Stiles, aren't you?"

She raised her head a bit. "I did," she admitted.

"You brought him here," he growled at her.

But Morrell didn't flinch at Scott's savage tone. She stayed as calm as before. "It's not as simple as you seem to believe. Deucalion learning of you two was inevitable. If it wasn't from me then it would've been something else that brought you to his attention. I've actually been the one filtering what Deucalion has been able to learn. Keeping you and your friends safe for as long as possible."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked her.

"Let me make it simple for you Scott. Deucalion, he wants power. Ultimate power and your friend Stiles is the key to that power. And when he gets it, he wants a True Alpha to be in his pack. And a small distraction like human sacrifices won't stop him from trying."

"But I'm not an Alpha. And Stiles isn't a Beast."

"No, but you're well on your way, aren't you? And the beast inside your friend is just a few scratches away from clawing to the surface. And when it fully breaks free from its cage, Deucalion will be there to take it. He won't wait for Stiles to gain control and master the power. He can't risk anyone else beating him to the punch so to speak. He'll kill Stiles the moment after his power is out in the open. Take it and then, he'll go to receive you."

"No!" Scott said standing and pushing his chair away. "Does he really think that I'll join him if he kills my best friend?!" he angrily spat at her.

"No, he doesn't!" she said standing up as well and slamming her hand on the table. "He knows that you won't!"

Scott's eyes widened. "Then what does he want with me?"

"He wants to make a killer out of you," she answered.

"But…if I kill someone…I can't become a True Alpha."

"Exactly," she said before tilting her head. "Would you like the psychologist's perspective? He's an obsessive who both desires you and is threatened by you. If the obsessive can't have the object of his desire, he'll choose to destroy it instead. You'll either willingly become part of his pack or he'll make a killer out of you and destroy your potential. If you were a True Alpha, you could possibly challenge and be a real threat to him even with his new power. So he'll make sure to eliminate the threat before it even has a chance."

"Neither of those is going to happen, even if he wasn't after Stiles."

"Don't be so sure." She then went to sit back down. "You're playing his game and while you're trying to figure out what to do next, he's thinking ten moves ahead with checkmate already in sight."

Scott quickly left the guidance office with a fear stricken look on his face. Morrell sounded so sure that Deucalion would either make Scott join him or become a killer. What did she know that he didn't?

* * *

Over in the history classroom, the teacher inside was preparing his notes on the blackboard for his lesson plan. As he moved to see if he was missing anything, he turned back to the board to find that everything he wrote was gone. Instead, what was on the board was a diagram of a symbol. The Five Fold Knot. He dropped his chalk in shock and it began to roll itself outside until it hit a pair of heeled shoes.

Lydia's shoes. She bent down and picked it up and then cast a look into the classroom. She stopped at the board and stared at the symbol. She then went and put a number 2 in one of the knots. After that, she screamed.

Soon, she was joined in the classroom by Aiden, Ms. Blake and school security.

"I don't get why no one's calling the police," Lydia said to Ms. Blake.

"They're going to make an announcement over the PA," she explained.

"That's not going to do anything!" Lydia shrieked at her. "I told you, he's gone. Like the others. Taken."

There was soon a crowd of students trying to come in for class but they were being blocked by school security. One of them was Scott.

"Okay," Ms. Blake said to her. "We're trying to understand. All we know is that is that Mr. Westover didn't show up for class."

"And the last time that happened was Mr. Harris," Lydia pointed out. "Anyone heard from him lately? He's gone." She then went and pointed to the number in the knot. "And he's going to be the second murder."

"Lydia, you wrote that number," Ms. Blake pointed out.

She nodded as she slowly stepped up to her. "Okay, fine. I'm psychic."

"You're psychic?" Ms. Blake asked in disbelief.

"I'm something!" she said mirroring what Stiles had once said to her.

She then looked over to catch Scott's eyes and tried to wordlessly tell him that this person was going to die. Something that Scott had no trouble believing.

Ethan came in and stood next to him. "A dead PD and a teacher? What's the pattern?" he asked Scott.

"I don't know," he admitted.

* * *

Allison read the text from Scott. That now their history teacher Mr. Westover was now missing. Another person was gone and her anxiety was growing. She quickly put the phone down and she stared down at the table with a pained look on her face.

"I have to stop him," she said aloud to both Isaac and herself.

"Is that really a good idea?" Isaac asked. "If your dad really is the one doing all of this-"

"If?" she cut him off. "Look at it. He knows everything. He's…he's _planned_ everything. What if…what if this is the _real_ reason we came back to Beacon Hills?" she whispered. When all the trouble started, her father told her that they were to stay away, but he had been knee deep in what was going on from the beginning. She remembered what Stiles said when she said that she had come back to town to help. He had accused her of coming back to finish what her family started. Even though that wasn't true for her…what if that was true for her father? He had been secretly meeting with her grandfather and has all of this. Predicted everything, even the future places for the bodies to be found before they were. Then her eyes lit up. "Mr. Westover." She then pulled out the map.

"What are you doing?" Isaac asked as she unfolded it.

"If Mr. Westover was just taken then there's got to be another point on the telluric current."

"You mean where he'll be sacrificed," Isaac said following along. Isaac took the black light and illuminated the marks on the map as Allison compared the telluric currents on Danny's map. Isaac pointed to a spot on Danny's map. "There. That's one's new."

That had to be where Mr. Westover was going to die. There might still be a chance to save him.

* * *

Stiles laid everything all down for his dad as they stared down at the chessboard with all the pieces that marked as he told the whole story. Starting from when he and Scott were first turned, to Peter and his revenge killings, to the Kanima, and then to the Darach and the sacrifices.

The sheriff listened to Stiles and noticed that his son seemed very calm and at ease telling him all of this. Almost like…when he got a person in front of him to confess everything that they knew. But, this was too bizarre and he was having trouble following half of it.

"Okay, so…let me see if I got this straight. You, Scott, Derek and," he said pointing to Cora.

"Cora," Stiles said to him.

"Cora," his dad nodded. "Are werewolves?"

"Yes," Stiles breathed out in relief.

"And Kate Argent was a werewolf."

"Hunter," Stiles corrected. "They're the purple ones."

"Along with Allison and her father," Cora said, helping him.

"Yeah," breathed his dad. "And, my friend Deaton, the veterinarian is, a Kanima?"

Stiles shook his head. "No, he's a Druid. Or, we think."

"So who's the Kanima?"

"Jackson."

"No, Jackson's a werewolf," he said pointing to a piece off the board with Jackson's name on it.

"Jackson was the Kanima first but then Peter and Derek killed him and he came back to life as a werewolf. Now he's London."

"Then who's the Darack?"

"It's Darach," Stiles corrected him.

"We don't know yet," said Cora.

"But he was killed by werewolves?" the sheriff asked.

"Slashed up and left for dead," Stiles said.

"We think," Cora added and Stiles nodded.

His dad leaned back in the chair. "Why was Jackson the Kanima?"

"Because sometimes the shape you take reflects the person you are?" Stiles quoted.

"And…what shape would an increasingly confused and frustrated father take?"

"It's an overall sort of thing. Confused and angry are expressions, like the one that you're currently wearing. And that I'm smelling coming off you," he said pointing to his nose.

"Yeah," his dad said with a nod before he finally got up and went to leave.

Stiles went to block his path. "Dad, just wait," he said to him quickly. "We can prove it. In fact, I already did prove it to you. We'll just show you and then we could-

"Stiles!" his father shouted and pointed at him sternly. "That's enough! I'm not going to tell you again."

His dad then stepped around him to head out of the room. Stiles narrowed his eyes and let a frustrated huff loose from his nose before he went and struck the chessboard and made it slam against the opposite wall and spilled the pieces everywhere making his father stop in his tracks and even Cora jump a bit where she sat.

"That's not enough!" Stiles said to him as he slowly turned around to face him. He was now officially left with no choice. "Cora," he said to her as soon as he calmed down. Cora nodded and stood up. Stiles then held his hand out to his dad. "Okay, dad, just…stay calm and watch."

But before Stiles could begin to shift and show his face, teeth and claws, there was a thump behind him. Stiles turned around and saw that Cora had suddenly collapsed. His father quickly ran to her and moved her hair to see the giant cut on her head was bleeding fresh blood.

He turned to face son with a panicked look on his face. "Call an ambulance."

* * *

Allison drove Isaac and herself down to where the marking of a map, which happened to be an abandoned storage building. When she stopped the car, neither she nor Isaac were in a hurry to get out.

"You sure that we shouldn't call Scott?" Isaac asked finally.

Allison didn't answer. She just grabbed a flashlight from the glove compartment. "Stay behind me and stay quiet," she told him. She then opened the door and stepped out.

"Oh, this is so not going to end well," Isaac mumbled before he went to get out of the car and follow after her. They quickly and carefully entered the warehouse which had very little light to see properly inside. "FYI," Isaac muttered. "If your dad tries to kill me, I'm going to defend myself."

"If my dad tries to kill you then you'll be dead," she said to him.

Isaac scoffed. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." They continued on for a bit more when Isaac just stopped. "I smell blood."

"Where? Which direction?"

"I don't know. I'm not that good at this yet." He turned a bit before he looked straight ahead towards a room down the hall. "I think it's that way." Allison started to move in that direction but Isaac held his hand for her. "Allison. Allison, wait," he tried to stop her. And she did stop. But it wasn't because of Isaac. She stopped as she saw the sight of a man tied to a fence and was hanging a bit off the ground, struggling to get free. And behind the fence, lifting up its hooded head to reveal his shredded and ruined face: The Darach. "Allison, don't!" Isaac shouted as Allison broke into a hard run for them.

"Get down!" Allison's father came out from around the corner with two guns ready in his hands. He quickly fired some shots for the Darach and forced him to retreat. "Help him!" he shouted to the kids as he kept firing for the Darach as he ran away.

Allison made it to their teacher but found that they were too late. He was dead. "No, it is Mr. Westover."

"It's our history teacher," Isaac explained to her father.

"We were wrong. It's not Guardians as in law enforcement," Allison realized.

* * *

"It's Philosophers," Scott said over the phone to Stiles as he was in the hospital. "Allison, her father and Isaac just found Mr. Westover."

Stiles stepped off down the hall as he nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. Tara, she wasn't always a cop. She used to teach middle school."

"Then the last one's going to be another teacher," Scott realized.

"Yeah, but Scott there's dozens of them and they're all headed home."

"No, no they're not. They're all going to the recital."

That was right. The high school had that memorial concert that Ms. Blake helped set up for all the victims.

* * *

Allison was glaring down at her father as he cleaned up the casing from his bullets. "You've been tracking the killer on your own this whole time."

"Yes, and I was this close," he said holding up his hand. "Would've caught him but the two of you…"

"So it's my fault?" Allison angrily said baring on him. "You've been lying to me for the past two months."

"If you want to tally up the lies Allison I don't think you're going to come out ahead on that one," he said back to her.

"Uh, just a thought," Isaac cut in. "Maybe right now isn't the best time for a family meeting. There's still one more teacher," he reminded them.

"The recital," Chris said.

"I guess we're going after all," Allison muttered.

* * *

Stiles was following after his father after they had gotten Cora a room over at the hospital. The cut on her head didn't seem to be healing as fast as they thought it would and had caused her to lose consciousness. His father had asked what had happened to her and Stiles told him that she had been attacked and when he asked Stiles why he didn't take her quickly to the hospital after it happened, he said that they thought it would've healed by now. Needless to say, his father was only getting angrier with him.

"Dad, what did you see the night that Scott was trying to save Deaton?"

"Not now Stiles," his father barked at him.

But Stiles wasn't stopping. "You saw him healing himself after he tried to get through the mountain ash, just like you saw with me in my room last night."

"I don't know what I was seeing. And I was stressed and tired last night."

"You saw something that you couldn't explain dad," Stiles pressed on. "Didn't it seem strange to you that when Scott got shot the night Matt had us at the station he didn't go to the hospital right after and was fine? Or after the final game that I came home completely beaten and bruised and the next morning there wasn't a single mark on me?"

His dad finally turned around. "I've seen a lot of strange things that I can't explain. That doesn't mean they're supernatural."

Stiles narrowed his eyes as he heard his heartbeat. "You don't really believe that."

"Yes, I do Stiles," he said a bit louder.

"No, you don't dad," Stiles said louder himself. "You're lying. To both me and yourself and you know it. And another teacher is going to die if you don't stop trying to fight it and start listening to me-"

"I have been listening!" his dad shouted drawing in some uncomfortable attention from the nurses and people close by. He looked around at them, silently telling them to move and carry on with their business.

Stiles just kept his narrowed eyes on his father. "You just don't want to believe," he said to him. His dad turned to look back at him. And Stiles swallowed his fear and then flashed his golden eyes at him. "Even when you're staring right at it." His father's eyes widened when he saw Stiles' golden eyes. Stiles then blinked and the glow disappeared. "Mom would've believed me without it."

Stiles then headed off back for Cora's room while father stood there watching him, his breathing quicken and blood running cold down his spine.

* * *

The auditorium was being filled with people as everyone was overseeing the final preparations before the ceremony. Danny was at the front, by the stage, with Ethan as he was trying to help him fix his tie.

"I know how to tie my own tie," Danny told him.

"You know how to do it badly," Ethan joked at him as he went and finished with it. "There, now it's perfect." He then went and moved to straighten Danny's shirt and his hair as well. Then he reached into his pocket for some mints. He took one and put it in Danny's mouth with a smile. "Still nervous?"

"All good," Danny said before he smiled himself.

Danny moved to head for the stage with the rest of the orchestra but Ethan stopped him. He looked tensely at Danny. "Listen, if anything happens, find me. Okay? Find me first."

Danny gave him a nod and then left to take his place. Ethan then turned around but froze when he caught sight of his brother who was watching him sternly from across the room. He went over to stand next to him, dodging his accusing look.

They were being watched by Scott across the room, who let his eyes wander down to Danny moving to join the orchestra. Then he caught sight of Ms. Morrell moving to speak with some of the parents. He then ran into Lydia or went to stand next to him.

"I thought you were going home?" he said to her.

Lydia shook her head. "I can't. I, I don't know why I'm the one that keeps finding the bodies…maybe, if I stop trying to fight it…I find them before it happens? Maybe…buy enough time…for someone like you to do something about it."

"You get me the time and I'll do something about it. I swear to god, I will." he vowed. He then held her hand and she squeezed back. They would do what they both could to stop more people from dying to the Darach.

* * *

Derek took Stiles by the front of his shirt and slammed into the wall of Cora's hospital room. "What the hell's wrong with her?!" he roared at him.

"I don't know!" Stiles roared back at him. "She's not healing for some reason."

He slammed Stiles harder into the wall. "Where the hell were you? Why didn't you stop her from going after them?"

Stiles then moved and pushed him off. "Why didn't you?!" he spat back. "What were you doing that was so important that you weren't around to protect your sister? Were you too busy being off and feeling sorry for yourself again? It's not enough that you suck at being an Alpha, you gotta suck at being a big brother too?" Derek glared at him for a moment before he looked away to gaze back at his sister. Stiles deflated as he could smell Derek's rage swiftly being overtaken by guilt. "Listen, Cora needs you, more than you may think," he said remembering his earlier talk with her. "I have to head to school and try and stop the Darach from killing another teacher. Everyone else is going to be there. We'll call if something turns up."

Stiles then moved swiftly out the door and Derek let out a frustrated and pained breath as he moved to sit in the chair by Cora's bedside. His sister looked so weak and fragile laying there. It was starting to hit him that his little sister was in some kind of trouble. Ever since they had met again, she had been at arm's length, being stubborn to any kind of attention he tried giving her…like any other younger sibling. Derek wondered if Laura had felt this lost with him. It was hitting him that he was suddenly in the big brother role again. It had been so long, he had gotten used to trying to get by and deal with everything on his own and be by himself. But, he wasn't anymore.

"Derek?" Cora called out to him.

Derek snapped out of his glum stupor and moved over to her. "Hey," he said rubbing her comfortingly at the top of her head.

Cora's face started to crack and she seemed close to tears. "What's happening to me?"

Derek shook his head. "I don't know," he said honestly. "But I'm not leaving…not again."

Derek went and reached for his sister's hand where she softly squeezed him back and she gave him a tired smile that he sadly returned. He then went to give her a soft kiss on the top of her forehead, after which a small tear started to fall from the side of her right eye.

* * *

Melissa was at her station organizing some papers when she noticed the sheriff walking for her. "Hey sheriff," she said to him with a small smile before it disappeared when she saw the look on his face. "Are you okay?" He then looked her in the eye and she saw that his eyes seemed haunted, but opened. She then understood. "He finally told you, didn't he?"

The way she just said that to him…it was like the final nail in the coffin of when everything in his life made sense. Suddenly his world had teenage werewolves, man lizards, homicidal magicians and families of monster hunters roaming around. "Everything…all of it. It's all true?" he asked her softly.

She closed her eyes and nodded. "I'm afraid so."

The sheriff's jaw tightened a bit before he let himself calm down and he looked back at Melissa. "How long have you known?"

Melissa deflated. "Since that night at the station. When I saw my son with an animal like face and claws as he was trying to throw a giant lizard away from me. The rest slowly followed after that." She caught his eye. "Did he show them to you? His face, I mean."

He then recalled what Stiles was saying and doing when they were back at the house with Cora. How they seemed to be getting ready for something before the girl collapsed. It must've been to show him his new…face. "No," he shook his head. "I didn't see anything like that, but…he went and cut his hand and made me see as it healed itself."

She nodded. "Yeah. They can do that now. It actually saved Scott from when Matt shot him that night."

Melissa's words made the sheriff take hold of his jaw nerve wracked. Now his mind was running different scenarios with his son having a monstrous face and claws. He ran his hand across the back of his head. "I…I don't know what to do. My son…he's supposed to be getting pimples not claws and glowing eyes. I can't even begin…what am I supposed to do now?"

Melissa narrowed her eyes at him. "Your job. Believe me, I know exactly what you're going through right now because I was in the exact same position that you are. Kinda still am to be honest," she said a bit self-consciously. "But there'll be plenty of time for that later. Do you remember what I told you to remember when your son finally spoke to you? Your son is still a good kid and he and my son are trying to do what they can help with all of this. Now the boys might be the best chance we have at stopping this maniac but they can't do everything on their own. No matter what they can or can't do, they're still just kids. Our kids, and they need our help."

The Sheriff went and moved his hand to his eyes where he applied some pressure and then let out a stressed sigh. Stiles had told him that if he didn't start listening then more people were going to die. Melissa was right, he was still the Sheriff and knowing this didn't change the fact that he still had a job to do. "Uh…Stiles, he said something about what he thinks is doing all this. A Darach I think he called it, he said that they believe he was someone that was slashed up and left for dead."

"Yeah?" Melissa said sounding confused.

He wiped some sweat that was on his brow. "Well…uh, I think I remember coming across something. It, was a case I was on a few years ago. It was back in my deputy days. An animal attack victim who was still alive. I think it should still be on record."

Melissa then got up from her seat. "Follow me." She then led the way to the file room. "Usually, for accessing the medical history records for a murder investigation you would need a court order, but hey, I've bent the rules for a good kid. His handsome father deserves to have the same."

The sheriff gave her the first smile he broke out in all day. Melissa brought him to where the records were and he fed her the time period that it should have fallen under. She took it out and they went over to the morgue for privacy.

"You're right," she said. "There was a person like you described. It was a woman, a Jane Doe, found with slashes all over her body and especially her face. Doctors thought that it had to be an animal." She took a moment to share a look with him.

He wiped at his bottom lip. This past year, there were a lot of attacks thought to have been from an animal. The thought that they weren't was starting to hit him almost as hard as his son's earlier words regarding his mother. "Yeah," he managed to cough out. "Was there anything else?"

"Actually, there was. Around that same time, something strange happened." She then pulled out a records report on an accident that happened that day at the hospital.

"Birds," he said as he read it.

"Yeah," she nodded. "As the patient was rushed to the O.R, hundreds of birds started flying into the walls and windows. Like…they were committing some kind of mass suicide."

"Or like they were sacrificing themselves," he said recalling what he read from Stiles evidence board about the recent murders.

"For what?" Melissa asked him.

"Not what…who," he said catching her eyes as his widened. This incident happened at the O.R. when this person was brought in. Just like at the school…centered around that one classroom. "Oh no," he mumbled.

"What?" Melissa asked. The sheriff started to leave the room but she grabbed onto him. "What? What is it?"

"I have to head to the school. Send a message to Scott and Stiles for me. Tell them they have it wrong. They're not looking for a man. It's a woman they're looking for. Ask them to find their English teacher!" he said after her as he ran to head out of the hospital.

* * *

Allison's car quickly pulled up in front of the school and she and Isaac practically hopped out of the car before it stopped as they darted to get inside. Chris took a moment to give a look around before he followed in after them.

Inside the auditorium, the orchestra was in place and soon began to play their symphony. Lydia was calmly watching when her phone got a text. It was from Aiden, telling her they needed to talk. She gave him a look which he returned before he looked away. Lydia then looked to see that he sent another message saying that it was Life or Death.

"It better be," she mumbled as she moved to leave the auditorium.

As she left, Allison, Isaac and her father found their way in. They quickly spotted Scott standing drew his attention. They moved to find a place to stand off by the side and a minute later, Stiles found himself coming into the auditorium and he moved to stand by Scott.

Ethan was watching Danny play his trumpet on stage but looked away when he saw Aiden fidgeting in his seat. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Aiden said as he kept moving around in his seat. "I just think I lost my phone."

Scott's nose flared when he sensed a whole lot of scattered but strong emotions radiating off Stiles at once. The strongest among them was fear. He looked over and saw Stiles' jaw was firmly stiff as his eyes scanned the area where most of the teachers were.

"Stiles," Scott muttered. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," he mumbled.

But Scott kept his concerned gaze on him. "You're lying."

Stiles let out a heated sigh. "Okay, no I'm not fine. I left my dad back at the hospital…after showing him my eyes."

Scott's own eyes widened. "What did he say?"

"Nothing," Stiles breathed. "I left him before he could say something. We…kind of were fighting before I showed them to him."

Scott's face softened at his friend's plight but he then jumped when his phone started vibrating as he got a call. He picked it up and saw it was his mother. "Mom?" he said picking up.

" _Scott, where are you? Are you at the school?"_ She was talking a little fast.

"Yeah. I'm at the recital," he answered her.

" _Is Stiles with you?_ " she asked frantically.

Scott looked over at his friend who was staring back at him, silently letting him know that he was listening in on them. "He's here and he's listening. Why, what's wrong?"

" _His father's heading for the school. Listen, he told me to tell you two that you had it wrong. The person that you're looking for is a woman. He said that you had to find your English teacher._ "

Scott's eyes widened. "Ms. Blake?" He and Stiles shared a look.

A horrifying thought then occurred to them. One that they had both been blind to even consider. What if the Darach was Ms. Blake?

Stiles' eyes went to the teachers and saw that Ms. Blake was nowhere in the auditorium. "She's not here," Stiles said as he looked around. But he froze when he noticed someone else missing. "Wait…Scott, where's Lydia?"

* * *

Lydia was waiting for Aiden when a message came to meet him in the English classroom. She wondered why he didn't just want to talk outside but guessed that, whatever he had to say, he wanted to say away from prying eyes, and werewolf ears. She entered the room but found it dark and empty. She was starting to get a bad feeling about all of this. A feeling which intensified when she started to hear a faint chanting just at the edge of her scope of hearing. She froze a bit at the sound.

"You recognize it, don't you?"

Lydia turned around and her eyes widened when Ms. Blake came out of the darkness with a malicious smirk on her face. She stared at her for a second before the teacher when and clobbered her at the side of her head.

* * *

Scott and Stiles ran to the front of the school where he had noticed Ms. Blake standing earlier but there was no trace of her there now.

"Where could she be?" Stiles asked her.

Scott shook his head. "I don't know."

"You really think she might have Lydia?" Stiles frantically asked him.

"She's been finding the bodies, and has been getting better at it. Before you came in, she told me that she was going to try to stop fighting it. Maybe she wants her out of the way, like Danny." Scott eyes flared as he tried to look through the darkness and Stiles took deep sniffs of the air to see if he could find Lydia's scent. "I can't see anything," Scott said after he found nothing in the surrounding area.

Stiles shook his head. "I can't find her scent either. All I can smell is…"

Stiles looked over at Scott and Scott took a sniff himself. He could smell it too.

"Mistletoe," Scott gasped out.

* * *

The orchestra kept playing and everyone watched calmly but then started to get a little nervous and some spooked by the fact that there was some chanting being thrown in. For all the werewolves and hunters in the room, it sounded like Celtic chanting.

* * *

Lydia was suddenly coming too when she felt a stabbing pain at her head. Her vision was still a bit blurry and her eyes were watery and agitated. She slowly reached to rub at it and took her hand away and her blurred vision was in enough focus to see that her fingers were coated in blood. She then blinked to get everything back into focus and made out that she was being bound in a chair by Ms. Blake.

"What are you doing?"

The English teacher looked up at her with a devious looking smirk on her face. "What's necessary. I'm actually surprised that _none_ of you seem to get that. I mean, you call them sacrifices but none of you understand the word. It's derived from the latin term _sacrificium_ , an offering to a deity; a sacred rite. A necessary evil."

"Stop," Lydia begged.

"Oh, I wish I could but you don't know the Alphas like I do."

"Please stop," Lydia pleaded again.

But Ms. Blake just stood up and went to stand behind her. "But, you Lydia, you're not a sacrifice. You're just a girl who knows too much." She then broke into a small laugh. "Actually, a girl who _knew_ too much."

Ms. Blake then went to wrap a cord around her neck and then yanked on it. Lydia tried to struggle against the cord and she then let out an ear-piercing scream. One that had Scott, Stiles, Allison, Isaac, Aiden, Ethan hold their ears and even was heard from Derek all the way back at the hospital. Scott and Stiles then turned back and headed back inside the school to try and find their friend.

When Lydia was done, she deflated in the chair and Ms. Blake was frozen in wonder as she let go of the cord and moved to stare at the girl.

"Unbelievable," she gasped. "You have no idea what you are, do you?" Lydia slowly lifted her head to look at her. "A wailing woman. A Banshee…right before my eyes. And just like me Lydia, you look like the innocent flower but are the serpent under it. It's too bad though, and too late." Ms. Blake then moved to secure her arms to the chair with tape and then moved to the garrote fastened to her neck and tightened it. She then pulled out a dagger and held it to the girl's throat. "One last philosopher."

Ms. Blake then focused her power to the auditorium where the orchestra was still playing and chanting. The band was still playing intensely and the teacher at the piano was playing the final notes when one of the strings of the piano snapped and the whipped to her neck, cutting it open. Blood splattered everywhere as she fell to the floor dead, to the whole audience's horror. The whole auditorium broke into chaos as people started screaming and running.

"Allison!" Chris Argent yelled when he saw his daughter run for the stage. He and Isaac then ran to follow after her.

Allison went to stand in front of the teacher and stared at the body and found some flower petals next to the body. "Mistletoe."

* * *

Ms. Blake was moving slit Lydia's throat but a click broke the silence. "Drop it!"

Sheriff Stilinski was holding his gun on her and Ms. Blake just smirked at him before she flung the dagger at him and got him in the shoulder where he dropped his gun and fell to the ground.

Right outside the hall, Stiles' nose immediately perked at the smell of blood that was dreadfully familiar to him. Scott smelled it too and they both broke into hard runs into the English classroom. At the sight of both Lydia tied up and the sheriff on the ground, they both shifted and roared loudly at their teacher.

The sheriff looked over at the boys. At his son and his son's best friend. Their faces were now animalistic and their ears were pointed and had fangs peeking out of their mouths. He saw that the golden eyes he'd seen before were back on his son's face and that Scott's eyes were glowing the same shade. Scott moved to attack Ms. Blake but Stiles was stuck staring at him. They both just stared at each other, almost completely oblivious to their surroundings.

Scott went to claw at Ms. Blake but she ducked and avoided his strike before she went and slammed her palm at Scott and made him fly back and land amongst the stacked chairs and tables at the far side of the room. At the crash, Stiles finally snapped out of his staring match with his father and leapt for Ms. Blake. She jumped off out of the way and sent a punch Stiles' way but he was rolling forward as he landed so she only hit air. Stiles then turned around and moved to get back on his feet but Ms. Blake went to the desk and with one hand, hurled it off to collide with Stiles. The back of his head slammed into the wall as he got pinned by the desk.

At the sight of his son getting hurt, his father quickly grabbed for his gun and pointed it at her. "There was a girl, years ago," he glared at her as she slowly advanced on him. "We found in the woods. Her face and body slashed apart. That was you, wasn't it?"

"Maybe I should've started with Philosophers," she smirked at him. "With Knowledge and Strategy." She then took a step for him and Stiles' father set off a shot at her leg. Ms. Blake cringed but stayed on her feet and they looked down to see the wound closing and healing itself back up. "Healers," she spat before she moved and grabbed for the knife still in the man's shoulder and lifted him to his feet. The pain made him drop his gun and she slammed him against the wall. "Warriors." Then she savagely grabbed at his badge and then squeezed it in her hand in front of him until it was a crumpled mess. "Guardians," she said dropping it.

The sounds of his father's shouts and his badge hitting the ground made Stiles snap out of his pained daze and push the table away to the opposite wall and he got to his feet and bared his claws for her. Ms. Blake turned to her side and held out her hand in his direction and a gust of wind came forth and Stiles was launched off his feet and his back collided with the chalkboard behind him. The smell of his father's blood was now being overtaken with the scent of mistletoe.

Ms. Blake looked back at the Sheriff and smiled at him. "Virgins." She then gave him a kiss before she stepped away and revealed her scratched up face at him. And then she let out a pained screech.

The screech brought Scott to his senses and Stiles lifted his head up and they found that the two of them were gone. Stiles' face shifted back to normal as he ran for the spot where they had been.

"Dad?!" Stiles called out desperately.

They then looked out of the window where there was a giant hole in it where Ms. Blake had no doubt taken him out from.


	18. The Overlooked

Chapter 18: The Overlooked

A strong storm quickly descended over Beacon Hills and the hospital had instantly transformed into a madhouse. Doctors, nurses and EMT's were rushing through the halls as they were rolling gurneys and carrying patients and portable equipment out of the building.

Melissa McCall was included in all of this chaos. Her nerves had already been high enough that night when she heard that there had been another death at the school. A teacher had been killed at the recital and she had no word from Scott, Stiles or the Sheriff. She was trying very hard to stay focused on helping with the relocation. She kicked into high gear when a tree branch flew in and shattered a nearby window shocking her, as well as everyone next to her.

"Okay!" she called through the roar of the storm outside. "All identification should be sealed inside the plastic bags and the patients carry it in their hands," she began to instruct the trainee nurses. "When you've completely evacuated the room you mark the door with a red X, okay?" The nurses then dispersed to begin helping in the evacuation.

One of the doctors pushed his way over to her. "What the hell is going on? The weather called for a mild thunderstorm this morning."

Melissa had a feeling that it was supposed to be just a mild thunderstorm but something, or someone, was behind this surprise disaster. "And now they're saying that power is out in several towns. Hill Valley is under a flood watch."

"I live in Hill Valley," the doctor told her.

It was clear to her that he wanted to get back, most likely he had loved ones back home. She could understand his feelings but there was still some last minute things to take care of here first. "Are your patients clear?" she asked him.

He looked at his clipboard. "All, except for Cora Hale."

Melissa knew that Stiles had brought Cora in and the last time she'd seen her, her brother Derek had been with her. She needed to tell him that they had to move her. And, she hoped that he might've heard something about her son and the others.

Peter Hale was by Cora's bedside wiping the sweat from her brow. Derek had called and told him that he had to head off to help with the Darach and he needed to get to the hospital and watch Cora for him. As he stood by her, he didn't understand why Cora wasn't healed already. From what he heard, she just suffered a small blow to the head. It shouldn't be taking this long or had gotten this bad.

"Hey, anyone want to tell me when they're getting my niece out of here!" he yelled out to the hall amidst the sound of people rushing along outside.

But then someone moved to enter the room. "Sorry, but she wasn't-" It was Melissa who walked in but she froze at the sight of Peter Hale, who took a surprised step back himself. The last time they had seen each other was during their disaster of a date a couple of months ago. Melissa's stomach jumped as she saw him as she now knew and understood fully who he was and what he had done to her son and his friend as well as the trouble he caused. "You're supposed to be dead," she muttered.

Peter shrugged. "I get that a lot," he said nonchalantly before he turned back to his niece.

"What happened to Derek?" she asked him keeping her distance from him.

"He had to go. Said something about helping out with what happened at the school."

The desire to learn about the boys started to overpower her nervousness on him and she stepped forward a bit. "Any word on Scott, Stiles or any of the others?"

He just sent a smirk her way. "If you're worried about your son, don't. He and his friends have a tendency of coming out…relatively unscathed."

Funny enough, that didn't make Melissa feel better. But the tension jumped up when the monitors started to beep more quickly and loudly right before Cora sat up in her bed and then gagged out a mix of black blood and brown powder. Melissa's eyes widened as she recognized what the powder was.

* * *

Over at the loft, Jennifer Blake pulled the entrance door open and started to stomp into the room. "Derek!" she called out. She then started running further inside. "Derek, where are you?"

"Right here."

Jennifer turned around and saw Derek walking slowly up from a corner of the room. "Oh thank god," she muttered as she then ran to him. She went in for a hug. "Something happened, at the recital, at the school. Okay, I need to tell you before you hear any of it from them."

"Hear it from who?" Derek asked her calmly.

"Scott. Stiles. They're going to tell you things. Things you can't believe. Okay, you have to trust me."

"What is it?" he asked looking right at her.

"Promise you'll listen to me," she pleaded to him.

Derek nodded. "Promise," he said softly.

Jennifer then went and gave Derek a soft kiss but pulled back suddenly when she felt that he wasn't being responsive to it. She looked back at him with a sullen face. "They're already here, aren't they?" Derek gave her a look before he turned his gaze to look over her shoulder. Jennifer turned around and saw Scott and Stiles step out from around the corner. The both of them looking at her with hard stares. Her jaw stiffened a bit. "So…they told you it was me? That I'm the one taking people?"

"We told him you're the one killing people." Scott was seething inside. Derek wasn't a person that could open up easily and then Ms. Blake came along and he could see Derek begin to finally start letting someone in. But she was only using Derek from the start to get close to them so they wouldn't suspect her, not until it was too late.

"Oh, that's right," she said with a sarcastic tone. "Committing human sacrifices, while cutting their throats? Yeah, I probably do it on my lunch hour that way I can get back to teaching high school English the rest of the day. That makes perfect sense."

"Where's my dad?" Stiles asked her. His face was hard and firm but his eyes were shining from unshed tears.

Scott could sense Stiles' tension and sorrow as his friend stood next to him. He knew how scared that Stiles had been with bringing his father into all of this and how he had feared something happening to him. Ms. Blake had literally brought his worst fears to life.

"How should I know?" she asked them. She then turned to Derek. "Derek, tell me you don't believe them."

Scott took a sniff in their direction and narrowed his eyes. "He already does," Scott said making Ms. Blake look back at him. "I could sense it from here. Probably because he can't sense anything from you there." Scott tilted his head towards his best friend. "Stiles figured it out on the way here. We've never really been able to sense anything from you. Nothing. None of your emotions, at least outside when you thought it was safe for us to." He took a visible sniff. "Only the scent of honey, to mask the scent of mistletoe and blood."

Stiles narrowed his eyes a bit at that. He couldn't believe that he hadn't seen it sooner. He should've figured that Ms. Blake was hiding something. All those times with how close they were to her, especially after she 'learned' about them but couldn't really pick up anything from her nerves. Only that scent. He should've seen it in class that morning, when he picked up that awful vibe coming from her and then had disappeared. That should've set off sirens, but he had been too caught up in the drama with his father to properly think about it.

She let a laugh out. "So, I have a nice smelling shampoo and conditioner and that makes me a serial killer? Really? Derek, why are you even listening to this?"

Derek looked over at Scott's resolute face as well as Stiles' pained one. He took a hard whiff from his nose and could smell their emotions clear as day. From Jennifer…he could only smell sweet honey. "Where's Stiles' father?" he asked her.

"I don't know," she gasped as her face fell in slight horror.

"Ask her why she tried to kill Lydia," Scott spat out.

"Lydia Martin?" Jennifer said looking mortified. "I don't know anything about her."

"And what exactly do you know?" Derek asked a bit pointedly.

So much that Jennifer nearly took a step back. "All I know is that, for some misguided reason, these two boys are trying to fill your head with some absurd story." She then turned to them. "One that they can't prove by the way."

Scott raised his head a bit before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a vial. "What if we can?"

Her face fell at the sight of it. "What is that?"

"My boss told me it's a poison and a cure," he said before he started to open it. "Which means you can use it and it could be used against you."

"Mistletoe," she glared at him.

But Scott spared no more time before he threw the dust right at her and covered her up in it. She started screaming the moment it hit her and her body started shaking. Her face then flashed into the pale and scratched version that they had seen before and she screeched at them. A bolt of lightning struck and illuminated all their shocked faces, as well as the dim light from their gold eyes. Or in Derek's case red eyes just before Ms. Blake went back to normal and had started coughing. Coughing that didn't get a chance to stop before Derek went and grabbed her by the throat.

"Wait," she cried as Derek's free hand brought out his claws. "Derek, wait. You need me."

"What are you?" he spat angrily at her.

"The only person that could save your sister." At that, all three of their jaws fell. Derek went to share a look with Stiles. Suddenly, Cora's condition at the hospital seemed much more frightening to them. "Call Peter. Call him!" she cried. Derek reached for his phone.

Peter answered from the hospital. " _Derek?_ "

"What's going on with Cora?" he quickly asked.

" _It's not good. She in and out of consciousness. Vomiting up black blood along with one other alarming substance._ "

"Mistletoe," Derek muttered as he remembered something similar happening to Stiles a few weeks ago.

" _How did you know that_?"

But Derek just hung up the phone and then tightened his hold on Jennifer's throat.

Scott stepped forward. "Derek," he cried. "Derek, what are you doing?"

Jennifer started to gag a bit from the pressure. "Her life…is in…my hands." But that only made Derek lift her off the floor.

At that rate, Derek was going to kill her and both Scott and Stiles knew that that couldn't happen.

"Stop," Stiles said stepping up. "Derek, stop!" he said to him.

She gave Stiles a look. "Stilinski, you'll never find him."

The air in Stiles' lungs left him for a moment and Scott's heart rate shot up.

"Derek," Scott said for him to stop but he just kept squeezing her throat. "Derek!" Scott repeated again but louder and harder.

Derek grit his teeth but then let her go and dropped her down to the floor.

Jennifer slowly lifted herself up and looked up at Derek. "That's right, you need me. All of you," she said looking at the boys. Her posture had completely changed. Gone was the scared and timid looking teacher. Now, she looked like an empowered madwoman.

* * *

When Cora had been found, Derek decided that it was time for a more functional car and traded the Camaro for a sturdy SUV. What he was now driving to the hospital with Jennifer/Darach in the passenger seat next to him.

Jennifer spared him a look. "I want you to know that I'm not doing this because I have to. I want to." Derek just kept staring ahead at the road and didn't react at all to her words. "I could still run. You wouldn't have an easy time stopping me. But I don't want your sister to die. I'm only doing what I had to do."

"Shut up," Derek finally said breaking his silence.

"You need to hear the whole story Derek," she said being more forceful. "You need to know just how connected we really are."

"Stop talking," Derek muttered out stiffly.

Jennifer then fell silent and then let her back fall flat against her seat and stared at the road ahead herself.

Behind them, driving in pace, was Stiles' jeep as he and Scott were following after them to the hospital. Scott had offered to drive for him but Stiles had said that he couldn't just sit and do nothing along the way or he would lose it. But Scott was still sensing how nervous and distraught he was, which he didn't blame his friend for, but he also sensed…hesitation.

"Stiles, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Besides the obvious?" Stiles slurred out before he started shaking his head. "I don't know. Something feels wrong about this. We proved it to Derek, shot down her little act, but she still had this look like it didn't matter. Like everything was still going according to plan." He then spared Scott a look. "You saw it, didn't you?" Scott stared back at him and he looked back to the road. "Whatever happens, we can't let Ms. Blake get away. My dad fits into the last category, Guardians."

"Don't worry. She wouldn't have had enough time to-" Scott didn't want nor need to finish that statement. When they reached the hospital, they all climbed out of their respective cars and headed on inside. Stiles reached on inside and pulled out a bat. "What's that for?" Scott asked him.

"We might have claws, but someone inside isn't as equipped," he said as they stomped on inside through the pouring rain.

Inside the hospital was a madhouse with doctors and nurses running around with gurneys and equipment on wheels. Derek had Jennifer by the arm in a tight vice grip as he led the way for Cora's room. As they passed the front desk, Melissa caught sight of them and ran over.

"Scott!" she shouted for them making them stop. "Thank god. I've been worried sick about you? All of you. What are you all doing here? The hospital's evacuating."

"We're here for Cora," he answered his mom.

"All of you?" she said giving them all a look. "Wait, why does Stiles have my bat?"

Scott and Stiles then turned and looked over at Jennifer. Melissa looked over and saw the way that Derek was holding on to her. The boys then turned back to her with grim and hard looks on their faces and she began to understand. "Stiles, where's your father?"

"I'm sorry mom but we don't have any time to explain everything right now. Okay, you need to get out of here. Right now."

Stiles then moved over and held the bat to her and she gave it a look before she went over and softly took it. "The building is supposed to be clear in thirty minutes. We've got two ambulances that are coming back. One's ten minutes out and the other is twenty. Cora has to be on one of them. They'll be picking up in the basement garage."

Scott nodded. "Got it."

Stiles then pointed his thumb over his shoulder in Blake's direction. "If, before you leave, you see her without any one of us, swing as hard as you can," he said to Melissa stiffly.

Scott went and got Stiles by the arm and the four of them went off down the hall with Melissa watching them go with a worried look across her face. They reached the elevator with Derek keeping a firm grip on Jennifer's arm.

She let an impatient breath out. "You don't have to keep me on a leash Derek, I'm going to help."

But Derek ignored her. Jennifer then looked over behind her left shoulder and saw Scott leering at her. She then looked to behind her right shoulder and saw Stiles with a matching leer on his own face. She then decided to stop talking as they rode the elevator until it stopped on their floor.

They got out and saw that Cora's room was now empty. Derek spotted the black spot on the floor that Cora must've vomited but Scott quickly noticed that it was trailing off and brought it to Derek's attention. Stiles narrowed his eyes as he bent down over a drop and saw that it was fresh. The trail led off behind a set of double doors and they began to hear muffling sounds behind it. Then, out of nowhere, they thrust open as Peter slid out and stopped just in front of them.

"We've got a problem," he muttered up to them painfully. "A big problem."

The four of them looked up and saw the sight of the twins, in their transformed state standing off at the other side of the hall and he let out a hard roar. The three werewolves shifted and readied themselves.

Derek took off first. He ran for the twins and quickly sent some punches at him. One by one. But they didn't seem to faze the fused Alpha. He then went to grab at Derek and began to throw him hard against the walls. Scott then ran off to help Derek while Stiles went and took a hard, clawed grip at Jennifer's wrist when he saw her twitch. He had dug into her arm, piercing her skin and making her hiss and glare in his direction. Scott ran and then bounced off the side of the wall to launch himself at the twins. He made to claw at them but they ducked out of the way. They then sent a blow for Scott's head but he ducked as soon as his feet fell flat on the ground.

As they fought, Stiles then saw Cora, lying on the floor unconscious. "Help me," he spat at Peter before he ran for the girl with Peter getting up and following after him.

They ran passed the twins who were busy gripping at Scott's throat, holding him against the wall.

"Ethan, Aiden, stop," Scott choked out. "You don't know what you're doing."

"All we want is her," they said in their fused voice.

At that, they looked off for the corridor to see Jennifer stepping back into the elevator. The doors began to close and the twins quickly let Scott go and ran for her. But they wouldn't make it before the doors shut. Derek caught a glimpse of Jennifer looking in his direction with a forlorn look on her face just before she vanished.

* * *

The entrance level of the hotel was seeing the last bits of activity as the last occupants of the hospital began to leave.

"Okay everybody, let's evacuate this way," Melissa McCall called out to everyone to direct them to the main entrance. "Stay calm. You guys good?" she asked a nurse before she ended up bumping into a doctor and making him drop some papers.

She rushed to help him pick them up. One of them had the end of a walking stick pin them as Deucalion and Kali began to slowly make their way into the building. They made their way for the elevator. The elevator doors opened and Jennifer quickly stepped out but made only two steps before she froze. Around the corner stepped Deucalion and Kali. The blind Alpha removed the end of his stick exposing the bladed end and then threw his stick like a harpoon which made the woman duck as it got stuck at the side of the elevator. Kali then began to run for her and Jennifer quickly moved on in and shut the doors. Kali sped herself up and managed to catch the doors before they fully closed. She began to pull them open with a soft growl escaping her. Jennifer's eyes began to go white and she then released a concentrated force at the female Alpha that blew her off her feet and away from the doors which finished closing. Jennifer then let her back hit the wall of the elevator in relief. Deucalion moved to step over and stopped at Kali's side.

* * *

Peter was carrying Cora as he, Scott, Stiles and Derek ran into the morgue.

"Don't stop, don't stop," Derek told them as they kept on moving. But Stiles did stop. He heard the twins roar and could feel them getting closer. Derek noticed that Stiles wasn't running with them anymore. "Stiles!"

Stiles looked back over at Derek and Scott and silently held his hand out to tell them to wait there before moving to stand at the side of the morgue's door. The twins barged on in and stopped at the sight of Derek and Scott. They roared hard at them and Stiles took that as his signal. He leapt and went to send a hard right claw at their face but the twins' right arm shot up and caught Stiles by the throat. They looked at him and sent a seething hiss at the young wolf's face.

"Stiles!" Scott yelled as he quickly ran for them. He then made a hard jump for the overhead light fixture and pulled it down hard to swing back at the twins' face.

The force of it made them let go of Stiles and he dropped to the floor. The twins took a step back as they went to lightly grab at their face. Stiles quickly got to one knee just as Scott and Derek ran forward with their arms raised. Stiles brought right arm forward and then sent it back towards the twins' stomach while Scott and Derek thrust their fists for the twins' face. They dropped their hands down from their face a second before two fists collided with it and Stiles' fist collided with their gut. The combined force from the three werewolves sent the twins flying straight back out of the room and colliding with the wall in the hallway. Scott and Derek grabbed at Stiles' shoulders and helped him up. They looked back and saw that their blow knocked the twins completely into the wall where there was no sign of him in the darkness. They then moved to try and catch up with Peter.

A few seconds later, the concrete around the hole began to shift and then a hand went to grip the edge. The fused twins pulled themselves out of the hole and jumped down back into the hallway. They slowly began to walk off but they separated along the way back into their two selves. They were panting hard from both pain and exhaustion.

"You hesitated," Aiden spat at his brother as they kept walking.

"I pulled back, there's a difference," Ethan said defensively.

"They're protecting her," his brother spat back.

"They didn't have a choice."

Aiden finally stopped and faced his twin brother. "And neither do we. All these sacrifices, all these bodies piling up, if it's actually giving her the power to get rid of us then we need to take _any_ chance we have to get rid of her."

Ethan gave his brother a long stare before he sighed out in defeat.

* * *

There was still some people over at the school, reeling from the death of the teacher at the recital. Allison moved down the hall where she saw Isaac getting nervous as he using his phone.

"I can't get a hold of Derek," he said to her when she reached him. "Or Scott, Stiles. Not even Peter." He then put his phone away. "How's Lydia?"

"She's got bruising in her neck. They're taking her to a hospital downtown because Beacon Memorial is being evacuated."

Isaac gasped. "Storm's that bad?" Just as he asked that, out the window the sky lit up brightly from the newest lightning flash.

"It will be," Allison said taking her own look out the window. "And I overheard an EMT say that the backup generators might be too old to last if the power goes out."

Isaac shook his head. "Beacon Memorial. That's where Cora is, right?"

But before she could answer, her father came up to them. "I'm taking the two of you home."

Isaac shook his head. "No, I have to get to the hospital. I can't leave Cora there with just Peter." Isaac then moved to head out for the exit.

Allison looked out after him and Chris could see that she wanted nothing more than to go with him. She then gave him a look and he let out a defeated sigh. "Isaac!" he called out to the boy. "I'll drive."

Just as he said that, the power in the school went out.

"We better hurry," Allison said to him before she moved off to join Isaac down the hall before they went for the school doors.

Chris Argent wiped at his mouth tensely before he moved to go after them.

* * *

Melissa McCall took the bat in hand and headed over for the elevators to do a last minute check to see if there was still anyone left unevacuated and to see if her son and the others got Cora out okay. Just as she reached the elevator, she froze at the sight of a stick with a bladed end stuck to the side of the wall. She went to pull it out and look at it a moment before a hand gently took it from her.

"Thank you Ms. McCall." Deucalion said as he took his stick back and replaced the cover over the blade.

Melissa gave him a look. "You're him aren't you?"

"Him?" Deucalion asked sounding a bit lost.

"The bad guy." She further explained.

Deucalion let a smile loose. "You have no idea."

The lights then flickered out and Melissa went and brought the bat up for a swing but Deucalion easily caught it just as the emergency lights went back up. Melissa let a small gasp escape her as Deucalion and Kali let their red eyes shine at her.

* * *

The others caught up with Peter as he went to lay Cora down at a table in an operating room.

"Where's the big guy?" he asked the three of them.

Derek closed the door behind them and looked back through the window. "He's down but he'll be back. And he'll be pissed."

"And Ms. Blake?" Stiles asked. He looked back at Scott who just shook his head. "What, she's gone? Scott, are you kidding me?!" Stiles asked raising his voice.

"Be quiet," Derek hissed at him.

But Stiles just grit his teeth and stomped for him. "Me be quiet? Huh, are you really telling me what to do now?" he said angrily getting into Derek's face. "When you're psychotic mass murdering girlfriend, the second one you've dated by the way," he savagely reminded him. "Has got my dad somewhere tied up waiting to be ritually sacrificed."

Scott went to grab him. "Stiles, they're still out there," he muttered quietly as he tried to calm his friend.

Stiles lowered his tone, but he wasn't calming down. "And they want her, right? Which means now we don't have her either. That means that my dad and Cora are both dead!"

"Not yet," Scott said trying again to calm his friend. Scott gave him a look that told him that they hadn't lost anyone yet. And Scott was going to make sure that they didn't. He went over to where Peter was still watching over Cora. "Is she really dying?" he asked him.

Peter sighed. "She's definitely not getting any better."

"There…has to be something we can do. We have to help her."

But then the doors swung open and the four of them looked over to see that it was Ms. Blake. "You can't," she sternly told them. "Only I can. I can save her, and I can tell you where Sheriff Stilinski is, but there is a pack of Alphas in this hospital that want me dead. So, I'll help you, but only when I'm out of here and safe. _Only_ then."

But Derek just pushed the table near him out of the way and moved for her. Scott grabbed him.

"Wait," he said holding Derek back.

But Derek kept glaring at her. "She was trying to get out."

"I was trying to stay alive, you can't fault me for that," she said at him.

But Stiles had enough as well. "You want to prove that you're one of the good guys then heal her," he said pointing at Cora. "And do it now."

"Not until I'm safe," she told him.

"Do you think we're that stupid?" Stiles hissed out. "My dad is going to be one of your Guardian sacrifices and Cora is your only leverage over Derek. You were never going to help us get them back."

"I will," she said to him. "I give you my word."

He rolled his eyes. "Your word? Oh, great. Then I'm officially sold," Stiles bared his teeth.

"Allow me to volunteer a different method of persuasion," said Peter as he tilted his head at her. "Let's torture her."

"Works for me," Derek said pushing Scott's arm out of the way.

Scott tried to stop Derek from moving but Stiles moved to grab and pull Scott out of Derek's way. Scott took a moment to look at Stiles whose eyes were glaring almost feral like at him. But before Derek could lay a finger on Jennifer the PA system began to sound with the voice of Scott's mom.

" _Um, can I have your attention?"_ she said making them all freeze and look up towards the nearest speaker. _"Mr. Deucalion…I'm sorry, just Deucalion, requests that you bring the woman calling herself Jennifer Blake to the E.R. reception. Do this and everyone else could leave. You have ten minutes."_

Melissa then cut the audio feed and looked over at Deucalion who nodded at her.

"Thank you," he said as Kali went and snapped the bat in two like it was a twig and threw the two pieces callously behind her.

Back at the O.R. everyone was looking about nervously. None more so then Scott.

"He's not going to hurt her," Jennifer told them.

"Shut up," Derek warned her.

"He won't," she almost yelled. She then looked over at Scott. "Scott, you know why. Tell them it's true."

Scott spared her a look before he went to catch Stiles' eye. His friend just stared back at him and Jennifer with a hard look.

Derek could feel that the three of them knew something he didn't and focused on Scott. "What is she talking about?"

Even Peter seemed interested. It was clear to him that it must be something big if it seemed that Scott, Stiles and Jennifer seemed so sure about the fact that Deucalion wouldn't hurt Scott's mother. "We're listening. What's this all about Scott?" The blind Alpha wasn't the sort to spare someone without an interesting reason. One he wanted to know.

But Scott stayed quiet and even Stiles was starting to pull away from them a bit. Jennifer saw that no one was going to answer and rolled her eyes before starting to do it herself. "You're not the only one that he wants in his pack." That made Derek and Peter look at Scott a bit confused. Jennifer continued. "Deucalion doesn't just want an Alpha Pack, he wants perfection. That means adding the rarest of Alphas to his ranks."

Peter's eyes widened. He understood now. "A True Alpha," he muttered. "One that doesn't have to steal the power from another. One that can rise by the force of his own will. Our little Scott."

Scott just shook his head at them. "It doesn't matter. We still need to get her out of here."

But Stiles bared down at him. "But Scott, your mom."

"My mom," he cut in. "Said there was one more ambulance coming in twenty minutes and I don't think we've been here that long. So if we can get to the garage and get Cora to the ambulance, we can get out of here."

"Yeah, but then what happens to your mom if we leave?" Stiles argued. "How do we know that he won't kill her anyway? Morrell told you that Deucalion was prepared to destroy your potential if he had to."

"I can save her," Jennifer said drawing their eyes. Help me and I'll help you get back Cora, the Sheriff and Scott's mother." Jennifer then looked at Stiles. "And I can help you as well Stiles."

"Help me?" Stiles repeated doubtfully.

"I can save you. I can stop Deucalion before he can ever get close to you. Stop them all."

Now Derek was definitely lost. "Why would Deucalion be after Stiles? Is he another True Alpha?"

"No," Jennifer shook her head. "Not quite. As I said before, Deucalion is after perfection. Having a True Alpha at his side…as well as truly becoming the Apex Predator. The real Alpha of Alphas. Having the fiercest and rarest power seen in werewolf kind. And Stiles is his chance to have that power added to his own."

Peter shook his head as his mind went racing before the memory of an old story flashed in his mind's eye. Peter chuckled. "A Beast? Well…I'll be," he said in a small whisper. "Who would've ever thought it? Stiles: Le Bete de Beacon Hills."

Stiles turned away as Peter looked at him with somewhat hungry look in his eye.

"What are you talking about?" Derek asked him.

"What am I talking about? I'm talking about the rare and legendary type of werewolf shapeshifter. The precipice and focal point of all werewolf lore." Peter then let a small chuckle loose. "A True Alpha and a Beast. Do I know how to pick em or what?"

"Shut up," Scott, Stiles and Derek said to him in a dull voice.

"Like Scott said, it doesn't matter." Stiles then turned to glare back at Jennifer. "We don't need nor want your help. Especially when it came from you killing all of those people."

Scott nodded. " _We'll_ take care of this. First, we get Cora out of here."

Peter sobered up. "The twins are still close and they're not just gonna let us walk Cora out of here," he pointed out.

"I'll distract them," Scott said.

"You mean fight them?" Derek asked pointedly.

Scott let a frustrated breath loose. He didn't want to fight the twins, especially given their situation but it looked like he would have no choice. "Whatever I have to do."

"Not alone," Stiles put in.

"No," Derek said turning to him. "I need you to stay by Cora and protect her. I'll help Scott." Stiles' jaw tightened but he gave Derek a nod.

Jennifer shook her head. "Uh, I'm sorry but I'm not going anywhere without you Derek."

That made everyone glare at her.

Peter then shrugged. "I'll do it. But, I prefer to be out there with an advantage."

"What, you mean like a weapon?"

Peter smirked at him. "Something like that."

They began to rummage through the room, opening drawers and cabinets to find something to use to help them fight off the twins.

"Hey," Stiles said as he picked up to defibrillators. "What about these?"

Derek gave them a look. "You know how to use those?"

"Um, no," Stiles admitted.

"Put em down," Derek said as he went back to rummaging.

Scott then pulled out a long syringe and looked at the label. "Epinephrine?"

Derek shook his head. "That's only going to make him stronger."

Scott sighed but Peter froze.

"How strong?" he asked.

Derek froze again and gave him a look. "Very."

Scott then went and jammed the syringe right into Peter's chest and pushed on the plunger. Peter let out a hard hiss as he pushed his way through the doors into the hall. The noise drew the twins and they both stopped when they saw Peter. Scott was right behind him and locked eyes with them as Peter pulled the syringe out.

"Alright boys," Peter gasped out. "Let's rumble."

Ethan and Aiden let out roars before they stomped over for them and Peter and Scott ran for them as well. The twins fused together mid-run and they started to fight with the two of them. As soon as the fight started, Derek moved out of the room with Cora over his shoulder while Jennifer followed and Stiles was right behind her. The twins threw Peter aside and then made a side swipe at Scott but then froze when they saw the sight of Jennifer fleeing. But they were stopped when Scott struck them from behind before Peter clawed them at their side.

* * *

Chris drove the two teens to the front of the hospital and the three of them quickly got out and ran for the entrance.

"Looks like the evacuation is over," he told them.

Allison didn't want to think that they had just missed them. She looked over at Isaac. "Are you catching a scent?" she asked him.

But Isaac shook his head. "No. Not with a rain this heavy."

They then moved into the hospital in order to make sure but Chris moved to have his gun locked and ready in his hand.

* * *

Derek, Jennifer and Stiles made it to the basement with no further obstacles getting in their way. Stiles' eyes widened at the sight of the parked ambulance in the garage.

"It's still here," he gasped out in relief.

They ran to it and Derek quickly moved to put Cora on the gurney inside with Stiles stepping in. But Jennifer moved for the driver's side but stopped.

"Derek, over here," she said to them.

Derek pointed his finger at Stiles to tell him to stay there while he moved to join Jennifer. On the ground, was the body of the driving EMT in a pool of his own blood. There were claw marks all over him. Close by were footprints. Bare footprints of blood walking away from it.

"Julia." From around the ambulance stepped out Kali and she was dangling the keys in her fingers. She stopped and narrowed her eyes at them, specifically Jennifer. "It is you."

At the sight of her, Jennifer went to stand behind Derek while Stiles quietly shut the ambulance doors.

"You can't beat her on your own," Jennifer told Derek.

"That's why we're going to run." They then backed up a bit before they broke into a hard run.

Kali went and dashed after them. Jennifer made it to the elevator inside and Derek went and pushed a gurney to block Kali before he jumped inside as well. The doors shut closed before Kali could get to them. Derek and Jennifer took a moment to calm their breathing but it picked up again when the lights in the elevator flickered and then it stopped, with only the emergency lights turning on.

* * *

On the roof, Melissa McCall had finished in turning the generator for the elevators off at Deucalion's behest.

"Thank you," he said to her when she finished. "That was, very helpful."

"What do you want with me?" she asked him.

"You? You're my…gesture of good will."

That only confused Melissa. "What?"

Deucalion turned to look away from her. "Go find your son." Melissa slowly moved away from him before she went and broke into a hard run to get away and find Scott. "Do yourself a favor Melissa," he called after her. "Be careful out there." He let a small smile escape him.

* * *

Stiles focused his hearing and heard that Derek had led Kali a good distance away from them. They were safe for the time being.

"Okay, okay, okay," he kept muttering to himself as he sat back down and rubbed his hands together nervously. "We're okay." He looked over at Cora. "You okay?" he asked her but then his face fell. "Why does it look like you're not breathing?" Stiles focused his senses and saw that Cora truly wasn't breathing. "Oh god, oh no," he said starting to panic. "Why are you not breathing? Come on." He then reached and tried to pull some pain from Cora, but nothing was happening. "What? Damn, why isn't it working?!" Stiles then shook his head. He couldn't fall to pieces, not now. He took a deep breath and calmly thought on it. He wasn't pulling pain from Cora…because she wasn't in pain right now. "Um…okay. Think…yeah. You could do this." He had to resuscitate Cora and fast. He then flashed to everything he ever learned about first aid. He had to perform CPR. "Okay, tilt the head," he told himself as he moved to gently lift Cora's head up. "Straighten the chin. Clear the throat." He then opened Cora's mouth. "Great, nothing. I see nothing. Okay, so, just pinch the nose," he said before he pinched Cora's nose shut. "And blow." He then moved and blew a great deal of air into Cora's mouth. He broke away and then released another hard breath into her. "C'mon Cora," he whispered to her before he went and blew into her again. "C'mon Cora," he said louder before coming down again. "C'mon," he said softly, almost crying. He then blew into her again. "Breathe Cora, damn it breathe," he quietly roared at her before breathing into her again. As he was coming down to breathe into her again, she began to cough just as his lips grazed hers. Stiles backed away and let out a relieved gasp as Cora started to lightly breathe again. He let a hard breathe of hot air out as he looked at Cora's pained face as she settled herself on the gurney. "Why is it that every time our lips come together you're either sad or in pain? It wouldn't kill you to smile a bit during it you know."


	19. The Overlooked part 2

Chapter 19: The Overlooked part 2

Derek was giving the elevator a look over as he tried to think of how to get him and Jennifer out of there. He went and pried open the metal doors and managed to pry them open far enough to see that they were stuck between floors with no way out. Derek then turned his gaze to the roof.

Jennifer followed his vision. "Uh, if you're thinking of using the service hatch, they're bolted from the outside so you'd have to break it. All you'll do is create a lot of noise and tell them exactly where they are."

"Kali already knows," Derek said.

"Not necessarily," Jennifer threw in. "She saw that we got in but she might not know that we didn't get out."

"Well, if I get through there then we can get to another floor," he pointed out.

"Or you'll end up fighting, alone, in an elevator shaft," she countered. "They'll rip my head off before you have a chance to throw a punch."

Derek looked away from her. He had to admit, she had a point. "Then someone has to get the backup generator running again." He got his phone and prepared to send a message over to Scott.

* * *

Scott and Peter were running a little wobbly and worn out through the halls as they tried to distance themselves from the twins. Peter collapsed over at the nearest wall.

"That shot didn't last too long," he coughed out. Scott let out a hard breath before he moved to lift Peter to his feet and put an arm over his shoulder. They quickly moved and found a supply closet where they closed the door behind them. "Those twins are really starting to piss me off."

Scott looked out the window from the door and saw no sign of them but knew that they would be around there soon enough. "How the hell are we supposed to get passed them?" he hissed back at Peter.

"Personally, I think that if we keep letting them beat the living crap out of us then they'll tire and give up," he slurred out.

It was clear that Peter was no help so Scott had to find the way out of this. A flash of lightning from outside lit the room for a moment and put a laundry chute in Scott's sight.

"There."

Soon enough, Peter was falling down it and landed in a giant hamper and then Scott fell in on top of him a moment later.

Peter quickly pushed Scott away. "You couldn't have waited like ten seconds?" he said annoyed at him. Scott didn't respond as his phone got a message and he saw that it was from Derek. Peter easily read the message from the look on Scott's face. "They didn't get out, did they?"

They then moved to climb out of the hamper and head out. Scott sent a quick message to Derek telling him not to move and that they were on their way.

* * *

Allison, Isaac and Chris were moving through the dark corridors of the hospital, silently. It was so quiet that when Chris brought his gun out and cocked it, the sound practically echoed.

"Uh, I'm going to take that as a sign that you're worried," Isaac whispered to him.

"Stay close to me," Chris told the two of them.

They walked a few steps but Isaac stopped suddenly. "I think I just heard something."

"Where?" Allison asked him in a whisper.

"Below us." Isaac then went and laid down on the floor. He settled his head to the ground and had his ear firmly to the ground. He could hear the sound of frantic footsteps. "They're someone moving down there. More than one."

"So there is still someone here," Allison whispered.

"But I don't think they were left behind," Chris said to them.

Isaac lifted his head up to look at him. "What do you mean?"

Chris pointed his chin up ahead of them. "Look."

Allison and Chris looked off and noticed a big, deep hole in the wall. One that looked like something was thrown into it. Allison moved to bring her bow out at that moment.

* * *

Stiles checked Cora over and saw that she seemed to be breathing normally now, though she still was both unconscious and ill. He looked over at his hands. He had always been able to pull pain out of people and even help Scott and the others with their healing when he did. Out of all of his abilities, he'd always been most thankful for this one but now the power to pull pain from others never felt so worthless. Pulling pain away wouldn't help Cora in the slightest.

He ran his hand furiously across his face as he leaned back to look over at the sad expression on Cora's resting face. "Just…hang on a little longer, okay," he whispered to her. "Trust me, if anyone is going to get us out of this, it's Scott." Stiles then looked up for a moment and shook his head. "I can't believe I just said that. You know, as far back as I could remember, I've always been the one with the plan. Or, at the very least, a Plan B. When all of this stuff started, I always had a Plan B in reserve. Against Peter and for the Argents, most of which panned out…mostly okay. Lately though…I haven't had the slightest idea of what to do. Not about Deucalion, Jennifer…or about my dad. And, I can't help but feel that maybe you were right. Maybe we are useless. Maybe all we do is just show up too late and find the bodies. I…I don't want to find my father's body. Not him," he mumbled rubbing at his eyes in frustration. He then let out a deep breath before he looked straight at Cora's resting face. "You know…you're a lot easier to talk to when you're completely unconscious."

But then there was a loud screeching noise coming from outside. He quietly moved to look out the window and saw that it was the Twins, in their fused state. He then moved back and tried very hard to keep himself calm so that his heart beat wouldn't alert them that he was close. Thankfully, the garage was full of the smell of gasoline, and blood, to mask his and Cora's scent. Stiles just tried to stay calm and watched as the twins slowly moved about before moving on down a corridor, away from them. He let a small breathe loose.

Stiles thought that that was close but it was clear that he and Cora couldn't stay there. If the Twins had found them in this ambulance then he and Cora would've been cornered and trapped. He was wondering if it might be wiser for him to try and carry Cora out of there and try to make a break for his Jeep. With Deucalion, Kali and the Twins distracted with searching the upper levels of the hospital for Jennifer, they might have a chance. The only problem with that was that it would mean leaving Scott and the others here behind. He didn't want to do that.

But before he could think more on that, he heard some more noises. Footsteps, and they were moving closer. Heading for him. Stiles brought out his claws and lowered himself down as he braced at the door. The footsteps were moving closer and he readied to pounce before a hand hit the window and he saw Scott's face at the window.

"Stiles, open the door," Scott gasped out to him.

"Oh, thank god," Stiles breathed as he quickly opened it. He then saw that Peter was with him too. He looked hurt and Scott helped move him into the ambulance. "Where's Derek and Jennifer?" he asked helping Peter inside.

Scott shook his head. "I have to go back for them, and my mom."

"Alright Scott, two problems. Kali's got the keys to this thing and I just saw the Twins pass by here like thirty seconds ago."

There was some rumbling not too far away that drew all their eyes in that direction.

Scott looked back over at them. "Stay here," he said to him before he took off for it.

* * *

Scott started to move in for the hospital, trying to find any sign of the Twins so that he could use them to find his mother and get to her. He moved on but was finding nothing, which was odd because that sound had to mean that they were still close. They were just gone. He then heard some a small jingling sound not too far but then his instincts kicked into overdrive as he quickly ducked. The fused twins had tried to ram at him but he avoided the hit. Scott tried to strike at them but they quickly grabbed him and shoved him into the wall. They then started to toss and throw him around, into the wall and then to the floor. They then reached down and lifted him into the air by his throat.

"Where is she?!" they roared at him. "We're trying not to hurt you!"

"Try harder," Scott choked out to them.

"Hey!" said a new voice that made the twins drop Scott. They turned to see that it was Scott's mother. "I'd like to try something." She then brought out defibrillators and jammed them into their chest. She shocked them and soon the twins fell with their backs to the floor, as two people again. Scott just looked up at his mother in wonder and disbelief. "Sweetheart, get up!" she told him as she reached to help him get up.

The two of them then quickly took off down the hall.

* * *

Derek was looking at his phone, waiting for a return message.

"Anything?" Jennifer asked him. That just made Derek put his phone away. "Derek, I know what you're thinking," she said to him softly. "That I'm using you. That everything that has happened between us is a lie. Or that I'm evil. A bitch. But, I hope you're not thinking of the most superficial thought: Is that her real face? The, slashed, mutilated face revealed by the mistletoe." Both she and Derek caught Jennifer's reflection in the metal doors. "Is _that_ what she really looks like?" She then looked down as she closed her eyes. She stayed that way for a moment before she opened them again. "Julia Baccari. That was my name."

"I don't care," Derek mumbled, not looking at her.

But Jennifer continued as if he hadn't tried to blow her off. "I…guess I should've changed it to something with different first letters," she said looking a bit embarrassed. "I think I read somewhere that people always pick aliases that are a subconscious derivative of their original name. It's a way of not completely letting go of your identity, since your name is so tied to your sense of self. Do you know what else is?" She then started to move in a bit closer to him. "Your face. The one that supposed to be staring back at you in the mirror. Not some hacked up atrocity you can't even recognize," she said with some bitterness leaking into her voice.

But Derek shook his head. "I still don't care."

"But I bet you're curious," she pressed on. "I bet you wonder exactly what happened."

Derek finally turned to look at her. "You were an emissary. They tried killing you along with the rest of the pack. Mystery solved."

Jennifer narrowed her eyes at him. "I was Kali's emissary. And, I was the one she _couldn't_ kill."

"She settled for leaving you for dead then," he said turning away from her.

"In the woods of Beacon Hills…close by the Nemeton. Or, what was left of it." Jennifer then started to remember the day that she was wounded and crawling through the trees. "For years the Nemeton's power was virtually gone. Like the dying ember of a burned out fire. But, a few months earlier, something happened to cause that ember to glow a little brighter. Something that gave it a spark of power again. The sacrifice of a virgin." Derek's eyes narrowed. "You didn't know what you were doing back then. Killing Paige in the root cellar, sacrificing her there, gave power to the Nemeton. You gave it power again. You gave me power, just enough to make me hold to life a little longer. Long enough, to be found." She then remembered when Stilinski and another deputy had found her there.

* * *

Stiles' phone vibrated. He took it out and saw that Scott sent a message to him. "Oh," he said breathing out in relief. "Scott found his mother. She's okay."

"Wish the same could be said for my niece." Peter said as he looked Cora over. "Any change?" he asked Stiles.

Stiles wiped some sweat from his brow. "Well, she stopped breathing a little while ago, but, I took care of it."

Peter narrowed his eyes. "A close call like that…Jennifer isn't playing around. Cora doesn't have much time."

"None of us do," Stiles huffed out.

Peter then looked away from his niece to look at his former beta with a small smirk forming on his face. "So…a Beast huh?" That made Stiles look in the opposite direction of him. But Peter only smiled wider. "They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It warms my heart to see both you and Scott, my betas, following in my footsteps. One becoming an Alpha and the other becoming a greater than average shapeshifter."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Okay first, you don't have a heart and you could hardly say that you were a great shapeshifter. And second, we were never your betas. Besides, Scott and I haven't become an Alpha or Beast yet."

"No, but it's only a matter of time," he said with some eagerness spilling from him.

"Yeah, well I'm happy you're so stoked about this because Scott and I aren't exactly jumping for joy."

"Really?" Peter tilted his head. "That's a shame really, especially in your case."

Stiles turned to look back at him. "Why?"

"Well, think about it. If you were able to tap into your power, to unleash the Beast, you would be able to fend off Deucalion and his pack. Perhaps even all by yourself. I mean, I heard about what you did to the Twins in their fused state that night. Then, that was you tapping into that power for a single moment, now imagine if you had that kind of power at your full disposal."

Stiles took a moment to consider that. Ever since he learned about what was happening to him, he wanted it to go away, if only to not have Deucalion and his pack after his hide. But, now he was starting to really think about what could happen if he was able to fully use it. He remembered how it was when they had to fight against Peter when he was that monstrosity of a wolf. And he wasn't even a real Beast. He had managed to take the Twins out with one strike that night at the abandoned mall. If he could have that power with him full time, he could send both Deucalion and Kali running off with their tails between their legs. The thought of that was empowering…but then his mind went to their other problem. Or really, his greatest problem and it quickly sobered him.

"It's a nice thought," Stiles coughed out. "But, that power wouldn't help save my father."

"How do you know that he isn't lost already?" Peter asked him nonchalantly.

"He isn't!" Stiles spat at him.

"How do you know?" Peter asked again.

"I just do!" Stiles snapped. "He's alive, He has to be," he said turning to look down at his feet.

"You didn't sound too sure there for a second. It's understandable. I mean yours wouldn't be the first father of a werewolf that was caught up in all this. Remember that business with Isaac's father? It's actually a miracle yours lasted as long as he did considering how close he's been to all of this. Hopefully you'll fare better than Isaac and have a more worthy guardian than Derek, no offense to my nephew."

Stiles was about to tell Peter to just shut up or he'll kill him when he froze just before he could utter a word. His eyes narrowed as something clicked in his brain. "Wait, say that again."

Peter's face fell. "Which part?"

"The last part, the one with Derek. What did you just say?"

"Uh…I just said that you might need a better guardian than Derek was for Isaac."

"Guardians," Stiles mumbled. Stiles leaned back and hit a small hook that held a clipboard which fell to the floor. His eyes looked down at the bottom line of the paper where it called for the signature for a Parent…or Guardian. His eyes widened. They had it wrong. It wasn't Guardians as in Law Enforcement. It was Guardians as in Fathers, or Mothers. "Oh no," he gasped.

Stiles then turned and opened the ambulance doors and jumped out.

"Wait, where are you going? Stiles!" Peter yelled after him.

But Stiles didn't stop. He had to find Scott. His mother was in danger.

* * *

Deucalion was calmly standing in the hospital's morgue while Kali was pacing furiously behind him.

"You should've kept his mother," she spat to him.

"Is that so?" he said lifting his head slightly.

Kali then moved closer for him. "You have a soft spot for him?"

"I have an investment that I'm trying to ensure," he corrected her. "That's why I let his mother go." He then started to turn around. "If you want to talk about soft spots, let's talk about Jennifer Blake. Or, what was her name again?"

The glare in Kali's face fell and she even started to back away slightly. "Julia," she said softly.

"Ah," Deucalion nodded. "That's right. Your emissary."

Kali let her eyes fall a bit as she remembered the day that she attacked, mauled Julia out in the woods. "I didn't understand why she had to die too. She was harmless…but, I did it because you wanted me to. I did _everything_ you asked to be a part of this pack."

Deucalion took off his glasses. "You did it to be with Ennis. So, don't point, that accusing toe at me. And, as for harmless, how harmless does she look now?"

"I thought she was dead," she argued.

Deucalion reached over for his stick and took a step closer to her. "Did you?"

"Are you asking, that maybe, there was a moment of uncertainty? That when I walked away thinking she was dead," she started raising her voice a bit as Deucalion started walking away from her. "Maybe I turned back and maybe I saw her there, lying perfectly still but I focused my hearing anyway? That I listened and found that her heart was still beating, still fighting for life, and I thought: I could go back and finish it or let someone I love die peacefully. And maybe I just kept walking."

Deucalion leaned in at her. "My heart bleeds for you Kali. Clearly, hers could've bled a little more." He faced outside the door. "However, coming close is another beating heart. Intercept it, but make sure that it could still beat afterwards. You clearly have experience with that." He then moved to put his glasses back on and left through the opposite entrance to the morgue.

Kali then focused her hearing and, sure enough, heard the sound of running footsteps.

Stiles was running up the service stairs of the hospital, he let his senses extend, trying to zero in on finding any sign of Scott, or of Derek, in order to warn them of what he had found out about Jennifer. When he got to the fourth floor, he heard multiple heartbeats. Four heartbeats and they were sounding off away from each other in pairs of two and they seemed to be a little aways from each other. One pair had to be Derek and Jennifer. He moved through the halls, heading for the nearest pair of heartbeats and heard them at the end of a corridor. He started to run towards it when the doors in that direction flew open and Kali stepped out of them.

Stiles' feet slid a bit as he forced himself to suddenly stop. "Nope, wrong set."

Kali gave him a hungry smile. "Hello there Stiles."

Stiles then moved his eyes off to the side, in the direction that he knew the other heartbeats were. Another pair, and it wasn't too far. His guess was towards the elevator…where Derek and Jennifer had to be. He looked back over at Kali. The most direct way there was behind her. "I don't have time for this right now. Just let me go by," he told her.

Kali then let a smirk loose. "Oh? You're in a hurry? My goodness, how inconsiderate of me." She then let her fangs show and her eyes let out their scarlet flares. "Where's Julia?"

Stiles raised his eyebrows. "Who?" he asked confused.

"Jennifer Blake," she spat. "Where is she?"

"Believe me, I wish I knew that myself," he then narrowed his eyes.

Kali's eyebrows rose. "Oh yeah. I heard. She went and took your daddy away, didn't she?" she said to him as if she was talking to a small child.

That only made his heart start beating harder and the heat rise up in his head. "Get out of my way. Just move and let me through," he said in a low tone. "I won't ask again."

"Then don't." She went and took a few steps forward, her razor sharp clawed feet lightly rubbing against the tiled floors. "Make me move, that is if you can. If you're…Beast enough," she said to him mockingly.

Stiles glared at her as his hands went into a fists before he opened them up to have his claws extended free. He then lifted his head up higher to show his own fanged teeth and his eyes glowing bright gold. He then broke into a run as Kali moved for him with a hard growl leaving her throat.

* * *

Scott was running with his mother as they tried to get to the main exit.

"How did you get away?" he asked her as he took a quick look behind him.

"He just let me go. Said it was a gesture of good will. No reason."

Scott narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "No, he had to have had a reason. I don't think he does _anything_ without a reason."

"Oh, then I'll continue to be profoundly terrified then. Don't worry, I got that covered."

But Scott reached up and stopped his mother from taking another step. He looked at her and silently told her to stay still as he started to move slowly for the corner. He could hear footsteps approaching, from more than one person. He stalked over and slowly moved to look down the next hall and found a gun aimed at him. Chris Argent's gun and he was there with Allison and Isaac. Their breathing was heightened at the sight of him but dropped down a moment later. Along with Argent's gun.

"What are you all doing here?" Scott asked them.

"Looking for you," Allison said. "What's going on?"

Scott spared a look over to his mother before looking back to them. "Where do you want me to start?"

* * *

"You know mistletoe is important to druids but do you know the myth for why people kiss under mistletoe?" Jennifer asked Derek.

Derek was still trying his hardest to not look at Jennifer any more than he had to. He just kept his eyes firmly to the same spot on the ground as he said, "No."

"It's a Norse myth," Jennifer started to explain to him. "Baldur, the son of Odin, was the most beloved by all the other gods. So much so that they wanted to protect him from all the dangers of the world. His mother Frigg took an oath, from fire, water, metal, stone and every living thing that they would never hurt Baldur. At a gathering, they tested him. Stones, arrow and flame were all hurled at him. Nothing worked. But there was one god that wasn't so enamored of Baldur. The god of mischief, Loki. Loki discovered that Frigg forgot to ask mistletoe, a tiny, seemingly harmless plant and completely overlooked. Loki fashioned a dart out of mistletoe and it killed Baldur. Frigg was heartbroken. She decreed that mistletoe would never again be used as a weapon and that she would place a kiss on anyone that passed under it. So now, we hang mistletoe underneath our door during the holidays…so that we will never overlook it again." During her story, Derek had been slowly moving his eyes from that spot on the floor he was trying to keep focused on. Little by little, he moved it up towards Jennifer and finally looked at her when she was finished. Her eyes narrowed as he caught them. " _We_ , were the overlooked. The emissaries. It was a mistake that Deucalion and the other Alphas never should have had made, because I made an oath of my own. From virgins, and warriors, from healers, philosophers and guardians to loan me their power so that I could teach these monsters that their monstrous actions never be overlooked."

"You killed innocent people," Derek said unflinchingly to her.

"So have you," she immediately said back. "I know the real color of your eyes Derek and I know what it means." But her face then softened a bit. "I'm not asking you to just save my life, I'm asking you to save everyone they'll ever hurt again."

But Derek shook his head. "You can't beat them."

Jennifer didn't waver. "Are you sure about that? Boyd, right before he died, he asked you what happens to werewolves during a lunar eclipse. You didn't get the chance to tell him but you know, don't you? What happens Derek, during the total lunar eclipse?"

He took a deep breath. "We lose all our power," he answered her. Derek then narrowed his eyes.

Jennifer noticed the change in his stance. Derek seemed alert all of a sudden. "What? What is it?"

Derek's eyes started to move about in the direction of the door. "Fighting. Someone's fighting."

* * *

Scott led his mother and the others off to an operating room down the hall as he finished catching them all up on everything that was happening.

"So, they're essentially trapped," Chris said as Scott informed them of Derek and Jennifer being stuck in the elevator.

"Right," Scott said to him.

"And there's no way of getting them out without turning the power back on?" Isaac asked them.

"Whoa, wait," Melissa cut in. "Hold on, if the power comes back on, they'll hear the elevator moving, right?"

Scott nodded. "And they'll be right on Jennifer and Derek as soon as it stops. We can't get in a fight with them."

"Well, you've got us now," Chris said looking over to his daughter.

But Scott shook his head. "It's too much to risk. They want her dead and if she dies then there's nothing we could do for Stiles' dad or Cora."

It seemed that they were all being forced into a corner, no matter what course they try to take.

"I don't think I even know which teacher this is," Chris told them.

"Oh, uh she's the one with the brown hair. She's kind of hot," Isaac told them. That got them all four of them to turn and give him a hard look. "Uh, it's just an observation," he shrugged as he shrunk back a bit. But then his face fell and he looked straight up. "Hey," he mumbled.

"What?" Allison asked taking a look up herself. "Something wrong?"

Isaac squinted his eyes. "I…think I hear something. Above us. Feet shuffling, and…sounds like stuff smashing into the walls."

Scott looked up and focused his own hearing to zero in on the sounds. "Yeah…sounds like a fight."

"Derek?" Chris asked.

Isaac shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

Then there was a roar, one that made Scott's ears stiffen and caused him to gasp. "It's Stiles."

"Stiles?" his mother repeated.

"Wait, so he's upstairs, fighting one of the Alphas, by himself?" Allison asked him. "Which one?"

Scott couldn't tell but he was hoping that it wasn't Deucalion that Stiles was with. "I don't know. And I don't know why he's even out there. I told him to stay in the ambulance with Peter and Cora."

Chris narrowed his eyes. From what he could tell about the young man, he was mostly cautious but could be very bold when it came a threat on someone he cared about. The attacks he orchestrated on his fellow hunters after their attack on his friend and fellow werewolves made that plain. "Something must've happened to pull him away."

Scott shook his head. "I've got to go help him."

"Yeah but Scott, what about Derek and Ms. Blake?" Isaac asked him. "And Cora? We can't just leave them. They need our help to get them out of here."

Scott's breathing started to increase as he started get agitated and torn up inside. Isaac was right, they had to get everyone out of there. The longer they were kept here then the less of a chance they would have to get Stiles' dad back and getting Cora the help she needs. But, Stiles was up against an Alpha, by himself, and whatever power was inside him, he couldn't use it right now and he wouldn't stand a chance.

Allison's eyes fell a bit as she saw the way that Scott was acting. It was clear to her that he wanted to go and help his friend, but knew that they couldn't just leave everyone behind. If there was only a way for them to draw the Alphas away. She let her eyes wander desperately until they came upon a mirror. She then went and ran a hand across her long dark hair. "I've got an idea," she told them.

* * *

Stiles jumped back to avoid a clawed kick from Kali as they fell further down the halls of the hospital. Stiles reached for a gurney and pushed it at Kali who went and threw it to the side. As she did, Stiles leapt for the wall and bounced off it to send a kick at the savage Alpha. He managed to connect with the side of her face and made her stumble back a bit.

Kali went and spit some blood off to the side before turning to face Stiles with a predatorial smile. "Nice shot," she said before she leapt forward and clawed at Stiles and managed to connect with his side.

Stiles let out a pained shout as he took a step back. Kali went to strike back at him with her other clawed hand but he went and intercepted and caught her by the wrist. But she quickly went and grabbed Stiles by his throat with her other hand making him stare directly into her red eyes and her savage face. Stiles went to grip her arm to try and pull her hand away but she held a firm grip. His hand that was gripping Kali's wrist tightened but that only made Kali's grip on his throat tighten in response. Stiles grit his teeth as he felt the pressure build in his head and he felt his eyes burn gold. He let out a growl from within his throat. He threw his body forward and pushed them so that he forced Kali into the wall, making it crack a bit. He made her let out a pained cry but Kali still had her hand gripping Stiles' throat. Her eyes burned brighter as she roared and tossed him off. Stiles flew through the air where he bounced off the opposite hallway wall and rolled off on the ground a bit. He let out a frustrated low groan before he pushed himself back to his feet to glare at her.

But Kali was animalistically smiling at him. "So, you can take pain."

"Damn right," he growled lowly at her. "Now get out of my way or we'll see how much you can take."

"How much can you give?" she taunted playfully at him.

Stiles grunted as he charged at her again.

The sounds of their fight was being closely listened to by Deucalion who had a somber look on his face. "A pity," he mumbled to himself. "Losing such potential, a true pity." If the situation was different, Deucalion would've taken Stiles in as a member of his pack. But, Deucalion learned a long time ago, painfully, that you can't always have things to be exactly the way you would like them to be. His posture stiffened when he started hearing some heavy moving happening just below him. "Oh Scott, what are you and your pack plotting now?"

* * *

Isaac got to the Argents' car and readied for his part of the plan. The phone started vibrating as Allison called him. Isaac took a deep breath and answered it.

"You ready?" Allison asked him as soon as her image appeared.

Isaac nodded. "Yeah."

"You're not nervous, are you?"

He shook his head. "Do I look nervous?"

She shook her head. "No, not at all." Then she moved the phone to get the hallway of the hospital. But, he could still hear Allison move over to her father.

"Did he look nervous?" he asked her.

"Terrified," Allison said to him.

"Uh yeah, I can still hear you," Isaac said to them. "Very, very clearly."

Allison's face was back on the screen. "Just go as soon as you see them, okay?"

"Yeah…yeah, I got it," he said settling himself and getting ready.

* * *

Derek got a message and read about the plan that everyone was forming. He immediately went and pried open the doors as hard as he could while Jennifer took off her heels.

The sound drew in the attention of the twins who were just a level below them. They ran downstairs and started to go about and search the rooms, one by one. But after twenty of them, Aiden was starting to have doubts.

"I don't think they're on this floor," he told his brother.

But then their ears stiffened when they heard the sounds of heels. It was someone running, below them. Heading for the direction of the front entrance.

The sound also drew the ears of Stiles and Kali. She had tossed a piece of medical equipment at Stiles who had dropped down to avoid it when the sudden sounds made them freeze. Kali looked at Stiles, smirking down at him. But Stiles wasn't looking at her but down at the floor towards the sound. Something wasn't right about this. How was Jennifer suddenly alone? She made it clear that she wouldn't risk going anywhere without Derek to protect her from the Alphas and Derek wouldn't just let her out of her sight, especially given what's happening to Cora.

But Kali kept her smile. "Aww. I have to admit, I was actually starting to enjoy our little tussle," she said drawing Stiles' eyes back on her. "Certainly was a lot more fun than the one I got from Derek but I'm going to have to cut this short." She readied the claws in her hands and began to move for Stiles as he tried to hurriedly pick himself up. But then Scott went and jumped on in and let out a hard, fanged roar at her as he stood in front of Stiles. Kali just shook her head and let out a frustrated groan from her throat. "I don't have time for this," she spat before she turned and ran off in the opposite direction.

Scott then went to look back at Stiles. "Are you okay?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, but Scott, down there. I think Jennifer is trying to get away."

"No," Scott said as he shook his head. "Don't worry. It's just part of the plan." He then went and moved to help Stiles to his feet. "Allison, her dad and Isaac arrived. They're drawing the Alpha pack away."

That made Stiles' eyes widen.

* * *

Ethan and Aiden followed the sound of those running heels and then saw Jennifer running off at the opposite end of the hall, away from them. They then broke into a hard run to try and catch her. The Twins ran after Jennifer as she bolted out of the front entrance.

As she did, the windows four floors up exploded as Kali threw herself out of them to land just outside the front of the hospital. Ethan and Aiden ran to stand at her side as it looked like Jennifer lost her footing and fell. But then she quickly turned around and revealed that she wasn't Jennifer, but Allison. And she was aiming a readied bow at them. She let the arrow loose but Kali quickly caught it but the end exploded giving off a bright flash stunning the three Alphas. Then Chris came out of the corner and let loose a barrage of bullets for them as Allison fired another flashbolt. The three of them then broke into a hard retreat as they ducked the streams of bolts and bullets.

* * *

As Ethan and Aiden ran through the hallways after the decoy, they passed by the set up phone Allison left behind and Isaac took that as his cue to move in for his part of the plan. He went and drove the car in for the garage to get to the ambulance. He rode the car in and stopped right at the side of it.

"Peter!" Isaac roared out as soon as he opened the driver's seat.

Peter quickly opened the door. "Isaac?"

"Bring Cora out, now!" he said before Peter could say another word.

Peter then moved to lift Cora into his arms as he moved her into the back seat. "Stiles took off," he said as he lightly put her inside.

"Yeah, I know. Scott going in to grab him."

"What about the Deucalion and the others?" Peter asked moving on inside after his niece.

"The Argents have that handled," Isaac said as he got back into the driver's seat.

There was then the sound of bullets sounding off and it was moving closer. Peter was looking out the back window before he quickly turned to the young beta. "Alright then, let's get the hell out of here!"

"We can't! Not without Scott and Stiles. Scott going to bring him back down here."

"We don't have time!" Peter yelled out.

"We're not leaving without them!" Isaac roared back at him.

The gunshot noises were getting louder and there was then the sound of roars mixed in.

"They're coming," Peter muttered. "We gotta go! Drive, you idiot!" Isaac's breathing started to become more rapid. "Isaac, you want Cora and the Argents to die?!"

Isaac took a look at the rear display and saw the shapes of the twins moving in for them and he then went and put the car in drive as he sped them out of the garage.

* * *

Scott then heard the hum of the elevator which meant that his mother had turned the generator back on. It seemed that everything had gone according to plan.

"Alright, let's meet up with Derek and Jennifer and then we'll meet my mom and get out of here."

But Scott's arm was quickly grabbed before he could take a step.

Stiles was shaking his head furiously as his face paled both from the pain of the fight and from what he feared would happen. "No Scott, we can't. We can't let Jennifer be around your mother."

"What, why?"

"Because then she'll take her too, just like she took my dad," he coughed out.

His face fell as he stared at his friend for a tense second before he broke into a hard run. Scott ran off for the elevator, whose doors were wide open. He froze as he saw that Derek was lying on the floor of it, unconscious, with no sign of Jennifer in sight. He took a moment to let out a scared puff of air before he bolted for the stairs.

Just as Scott pushed through the door to them, Stiles stumbled onto the scene and stilled at the sight of Derek as well. The sight of it made one thing very clear to him, they were too late.

Scott was climbing the steps two or three at a time as he pushed himself to the roof. "Mom!" he roared out as soon as he cleared the door and stepped onto the roof. The entire place was deserted and empty. "Mom!" he tried again. He then started to sniff around, to try and find her scent, but…all he could detect, was mistletoe.

"They're gone." Scott then turned and saw Deucalion step out of the shadows. "Guardians Scott. If you were with me, I could've told you what it meant. I could've warned you. Your friend Stiles managed to discover it, sadly, not in time. Let me help you Scott. Let me help you get your mother and Stiles' father back."

Scott took a moment to feel all the heat in his body turn frigid. His mother was gone. Taken to be a sacrifice. The images of Jennifer's other victims came back to him and he realized that he didn't want to see his mother like that. He couldn't see his mother like that. His feet then started to be stepping towards Deucalion almost like they had a mind of their own with him vaguely aware of them even moving.

"Scott!" That made Scott turn around to look over at Stiles who was staring wide eyed at him. "Stop. Don't do this. Don't go with him."

"Why shouldn't he Stiles?" Deucalion said to him. "After all, I'm the best chance he has of finding both his mother and your father."

"No, you're not," Stiles argued. "We don't need you," he said in the same tone that he had used when he said those same words to Jennifer.

"Oh? Tell me then, how are you going to find your parents in time? What do you plan to do? Where do you plan to look?" Stiles just stared blankly back at him. "I thought so, see, I happen to both already have a plan and know where to start looking."

"Then tell us!" Stiles challenged.

Deucalion let a small smile spread onto his face. "I'm sorry, but, that's pack privileged information." He then looked down in Scott's direction as he stared back at the Alpha. "Pack members only I'm afraid. No exceptions."

At that moment, Scott remembered Morrell's words. She told him that he shouldn't be so sure that he could refuse Deucalion, even though he wanted to kill his friend. Then, he hadn't seen any scenario where that would be remotely true. Now, it seemed too real. Scott stared at Deucalion before he looked back at Stiles' scared face. "I…I don't know what else to do."

"No," Stiles muttered. "Scott, there's gotta be something else. Please, don't do this. We'll come up with something. Okay, we always do, We always have a Plan B," he pleaded to him.

Scott shook his head. "Not this time."

Stiles then watched as Scott then started to move closer to Deucalion and Stiles stepped forward. "Scott," he said making his friend stop. "You know what he's planning to do."

"Yes," Deucalion said out to them. "He does. Scott has a decision to make. His mother and your father, or you? He can't save everyone, and deep down, you know that just as he does. Which decision do you want him to make Stiles? Do you want him to save you or save your father?"

Stiles clenched his hand angrily as a tear began to drop from the corner of his eye.

Scott closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. He then slowly opened them to look back at his friend. "Stiles…I'm sorry. Don't worry, I'll save your dad. I promise." ' _And you_ ,' he said silently as he turned around and kept walking towards Deucalion.

The man then turned his head towards Stiles. "And I promise you Stiles, I'll be seeing you again very soon."

Stiles was left watching as Scott got to Deucalion and the blind Alpha put his hand on his shoulder as they walked on away.

* * *

Melissa McCall was blinking her eyes as she started to become dimly aware of her surroundings. She saw that she seemed to be in some kind of cellar, and had her hands and feet tied up and she was fastened to a wooden beam support.

A soft "Hey," sounded off in front of her and she saw the Sheriff was tied up just like she was. "Hey, you alright?" he asked her.

She nodded before she tried to look around again. "Oh god, where are we?"

"I don't know." He then started to look around himself. "It looks like a root cellar to me, but, she called it something different. She called it a…Nemeton."


	20. Alpha Pact

Chapter 20: Alpha Pact

Stiles didn't know how long he stayed there on that roof, staring at the spot where he saw his best friend walk off with Deucalion. He was breathing very heavily as his eyes stayed focused on that spot. Then, suddenly, everything started coming down on him. He could hear noises from all around the hospital. Smell everything within his vicinity as well. It was all so quickly and loud that he fell to his knees and started to pull on his ears and shut his eyes to try and block it out. It was so…overwhelming. Everything, all of it. Stiles then raised his head up and let out a hard roar into the sky. His eyes turned gold and the whites went dark giving his eyes the full appearance of a wolf. A bunch of sparks then shot out from the generator nearby and illuminated him making a shadow appear behind him for a moment. A shadow that had the look of a hulking bipedal wolf beast.

Away from the hospital, Scott was still walking away from it with Deucalion when his ears stiffened as he heard the roar. He stopped to look back at the building with a sad look on his face but Deucalion's arm went to Scott's shoulder, turned him around and forced him to keep walking.

Kali and the Twins spotted the speeding car carrying Isaac, Peter and Cora and were about to chase after it when the roar made its way to their ears too. They spared a look towards each other before they turned around and headed the opposite direction.

But Stiles stopped in his roar as, suddenly, one of the sounds that hit him, distant police sirens, settle his eyes and made them revert back to their normal beta gold. His breathing slowed and his posture calmed. This all too familiar sound, one he always coupled with his father, seemed to be giving him his focus back as well as get his mind to be back on track. He stood up and looked out at the distance. The sirens were getting closer, and Stiles could tell that it was from more than one cop car. They seemed to be heading right for the hospital.

Stiles broke into a run down the stairs and got off at the floor where he had last seen Derek. He ran for the elevator to find that Derek was laying in the exact same spot that he left him. "Wake up!" Stiles shouted at him. But Derek just lied there, unconscious. Stiles flashed back to the last time that Derek was out like this and went and slapped him, screaming Derek's name but the guy didn't wake. Stiles then curled his hand into a fist and gave Derek a good punch, but he still stayed unconscious. "Derek, get up!" Stiles braced his hand back and prepared to punch him even harder when Derek's arm shot up and caught him by the wrist.

Derek started looking around for a moment before looking up at Stiles. "Where is she?"

"Jennifer? She's gone, with Scott's mom," he hurriedly spat at him.

"She took her?!" Derek gasped out.

"Yeah, and if that's not enough of a kick to the balls, Scott left, with Deucalion. Okay, so you got to get out of here. I heard sirens. The police are coming and you can't be here when they show up."

Stiles then moved to pull Derek to his feet but he stopped half-way. "Whoa, what about Cora?"

"Scott said that Isaac and the Argents got her out. But Derek, she's not looking too good. She stopped breathing once and Peter said that she doesn't have much time."

At that, Derek quickly got to his feet and broke into a run leaving Stiles there staring after him, to be alone in the hospital.

* * *

Isaac stopped the car around the corner from the hospital and looked back. "You see the Twins?" he asked Peter.

Peter was also looking back and was shaking his head. "No," he said before looking to the front. "But, I see the Argents."

Isaac turned to see both Allison and her father step out from a parked ambulance looking a little winded. Chris and Allison had heard the car pull up from not too far and had ran towards it. They stopped when they noticed a howl sounding off. It wasn't a roar, but a call.

"What is it?" Allison asked her father.

"A retreat?" he said not sounding too sure of its meaning himself. Why would the Alphas pull back now?

Back in the car, Isaac was rubbing at his chin. "Uh…not to bring up uncomfortable memories but, wasn't the last time you saw them when you killed Kate and they burned you alive?" he asked remembering what Scott and Derek had told him. Isaac looked back and saw that the back door was open and Peter was gone. He then got out of the car.

Allison quickly spotted him. "Where are the others?" she asked him.

Isaac shook his head. "I don't know. Scott never came back with Stiles or Derek and Jennifer. I couldn't wait for them and had to get Cora out."

But then the three of them turned when they spotted Derek's van pulling up. For a moment, they assumed that it was all of them but Derek came out of the car all by himself.

"Where's Scott and Stiles?" Allison asked him.

"Stiles is still at the hospital. He's going to hold off the cops for us." He went in and took Cora out of the car into his arms. "We have to go right now," he said to Isaac.

Chris narrowed his eyes. "What about Scott and Melissa?"

Derek went and placed Cora into the back of his van. "Jennifer took Melissa."

That made Allison, Chris and Isaac freeze in shock.

After a moment, Allison managed to ask, "What about Scott?" Derek just froze and stared off at the three of them. "Derek, where's Scott?" Allison asked him more fiercely.

* * *

Over at the hospital, Stiles was sitting over close to the entrance as one of the officers told him to wait as a FBI agent was going to want to talk to him. Stiles just sat there, trying to keep himself calm as he let his eyes wander a bit. They wandered to the door when he saw that the fed was now there. But the sight of him made Stiles' eyes widen. The man noticed Stiles too and his eyes narrowed at the sight of him.

Stiles huffed. "Oh, just perfect," he mumbled to himself. As if the night wasn't horrible enough he had to run into someone that he preferred never to see again for the rest of his life. Scott's, for lack of a better term, dad.

He walked over and stopped in front of Stiles and smirked down at him. "A Stilinski at the center of this whole mess, what a shocker. Think you can answer some questions without the usual level of sarcasm?"

Stiles just stared at Agent McCall blankly. "Depends, can you ask the questions without the usual level of stupid?" he said back to him blankly.

That only made Agent McCall give him an empty smile that faded as quickly as it formed. "Where's your dad and why isn't anyone able to contact him?"

Stiles just shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't seen him in hours."

"Is he drinking again?" he asked him not skipping a beat.

Stiles just narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, again? He never had to stop."

"But he did have to slow down," he cut in. "Is he drinking like he used to."

Stiles clenched his right hand into a quick fist to try and push down the desire to hurl this man into the opposite wall. "You know what, how about the next time I see him I give him the field sobriety test. Make him recite the alphabet. Start with F and end with U."

Agent McCall just kept his game face on with him. "How about you just tell me what the hell happened here?"

But Stiles just shook his head. Even if he wanted to talk about it, Scott's dad wouldn't be remotely in his list of people to talk about it with. "I don't know what happened here. I was stuck in the elevators the whole time," he said dropping his head.

Agent McCall's expression fell. "You're not the one that painted the name on the doors, are you?"

Stiles raised his head back up to look at him. "What name?"

Over at the elevator doors, the name Argent was spray painted there in red.

* * *

Over at the loft, Cora was laying on a cot, struggling for air. The tips of her lips were smeared with black blood and she was covered in a layer of cold sweat. The sight of her made Derek's insides go cold as he was watching her. And he wasn't the only one watching. Isaac was standing off to the side while Peter was sitting off by the steps.

"She's dying, isn't she?" Isaac asked.

"I don't know," Derek barely said audibly.

"So, what are you going to do?" Isaac asked him.

Derek watched his sister before he shook his head. "I don't know," he repeated.

Isaac then paced a bit before his eyes fell into a small glare. "You want to figure something out? Because while Scott and Stiles were out there, trying to help people from being killed, you were here, rolling around in the sheets with the actual killer!" he spat angrily at him. "Do you get how many people she's killed? Erica and Boyd are dead. Cora is dying, and you are doing NOTHING!" But Derek just kept his gaze on his sister. Isaac then started shaking his head, fighting to push back the tears that wanted to fall from them. "Why did you do this to us Derek? Was it all about the power? Were you bored?" He then moved to kneel at Derek's side. "Were you lonely?"

Derek finally tore his eyes away from Cora to look at him. "Maybe." Isaac then stood up and began to move for the door. "I told Cora I wouldn't leave," he said after him. "I'll help the others after I figure out how to help her."

But that just made Isaac explode. "There's no time! The full moon's coming. The Sheriff and Melissa are going to be dead so I'm going to try and help them," he said as he pulled the door open. "You can sit here and perfect the art of doing nothing." He then slammed the door shut behind him.

"I wouldn't take it personally," Peter said from where he sat before starting getting up and walking down them. "Anger is just a tool. He's using it to excuse shifting allegiance from one Alpha to another. From you to Scott."

Derek gave Peter a look before looking back at Cora. "Scott's not an Alpha yet."

"But he's well on his way, isn't he?"

* * *

Stiles was finally released from the annoyingly watchful eye of Agent McCall and he found himself pushing into the front door of his home. Stiles moved to the kitchen and checked underneath his sink for his dad's toolbox. He opened it and brought out a hammer. He then sat down over at the table where he reached into his pocket and pulled out a clump of metal that used to be his father's badge. Jennifer had completely crumpled it up into a near round mess. Stiles went and pulled on the edges of the badge until it somewhat resembled it's former star shape. He then took the hammer and started to pound on it to flatten it back to normal. After a few minutes of him hammering, there was a knock on his front door. Stiles stood up and then slowly made his way over to the door with his eyes narrowed. He stopped just in front of it, his stance ready to pounce. He began to move for the doorknob.

"Stiles," Isaac's voice sounded from the other side making him jump up a bit. "It's me, open up."

Stiles let out a frustrated breath before he went and turned the knob to open the door and see Isaac standing there in wait. "Isaac, what are you doing here?"

"I was going to head back to Scott's…but then I remembered there was no one there. I, want to help, however I can."

Stiles nodded and then moved to let him in. "How's Cora?" Stiles asked as they made it to the living room.

"Not good," Isaac mumbled. He then sat down and brought his knuckles to his lips to try and quell his nerves. "She's…it doesn't look like she has much time." Stiles dropped his arms to his sides and clenched his hands into tight fists. His breathing intensified and some growling even escaped his throat. Growls that made Isaac look up from his despair at him and narrowed his eyes a bit. "Stiles?" he said to him but Stiles just stood in place and didn't move any muscle. The sight made a chill rise in Isaac's spine for some reason. "Stiles?!" he said a little louder to him.

Stiles blinked and then shook his head a bit. "Sorry," he breathed before he put pressure on his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "It's just…been a long night," he said before he threw himself onto the couch.

Isaac gave a nod before he looked back at him. "So…what are we going to do now?"

Stiles let out a hard breath. "We find my father and Scott's mother. Jennifer took them but she won't kill them, I don't think." ' _I hope_ ,' he added silently. "She knows they're the only thing that is keeping the rest of us aside from the Alpha Pack from killing her." Stiles narrowed his eyes. Jennifer thought she had the upper hand but Stiles promised that the next time, Scott wouldn't be there to be holding anyone back. She wouldn't be holding anyone's lives over their heads like before. Next time he saw her he would be personally adding new claw scars to match her face and wouldn't stop until she told him exactly where they were and saved Cora. And, if anything happened to any of them, he would rip out her heart or whatever it was that was beating in her chest. "She needs to keep them alive," he told both Isaac and himself.

"Until she finds a third sacrifice," said Isaac bringing him out of his savage thoughts. "Allison said that she and her father were going to study the telluric currents to try and narrow down where she might be keeping them."

"Yeah," Stiles straightened himself up. "About that, I think I already know who she has in mind for the third sacrifice. Allison's father."

Isaac's face paled. "What? How do you know?"

"At the hospital, she went and spray painted the name Argent on the doors of the elevator that she was stuck in with Derek."

Isaac stood up. "I have to warn them."

Stiles stood up too. "And, I'll check with Lydia?"

"Lydia?"

"Yeah, maybe she can help me find them. However or whatever she is. I mean, she's something. Hopefully it's something that can help." Isaac gave him a momentary look before he went for his front door. "Isaac," he called after him making him stop. "I notice that you've been spending a lot of time with Allison lately. During and outside of school."

Isaac quickly looked sheepish. "Uh,"

But Stiles held up his hand. "Look, I'm not trying to judge you or anything. Let me just say, be careful. There's been a history of werewolves trusting and falling for Argents and that history has never ended good for the werewolves involved. Just, keep that in mind. Okay?"

Isaac looked at him for a moment before he went and went out the door.

* * *

Derek had been at Cora's side all through the night and had steadily watched as her condition worsened. Now, with the morning sunlight, he could see how much more paler his sister had become. She was now barely moving and could hardly move her eyelids. He was holding onto her hand and felt how cold it was. He bit back a growl as he reached down, as deep as he could, and started to pull out whatever pain from her that he could get his claws into.

Peter was watching as Derek was trying to siphon off as much as he could from her. "Careful," he said urgently to him.

Derek kept his hold for a few more seconds before he let her go. He pulled his hand back and took a moment to get some feeling back into it. "Don't worry," he said to his uncle. "I know. Going too far could kill me."

"Uh, that's not exactly what I meant."

Derek eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that if you use too much of your strength now, you won't have any left to use to actually heal her."

That made Derek fully turn around to face him. "What are talking about?"

"I've heard it's something only an Alpha could do, and with good reason."

"Which is?" Derek pressed on.

"Well, you know that normal wolves never abandon an injured member of the pack. They care for it, bring it food from a kill, regurgitate it into the mouth of the injured wolf. They even give it emotional comfort by intensely grooming it. In a way, they could do more than just ease pain. They could be instrumental in healing their own."

Derek then moved so that he was directly in front of him. "If you're trying to tell me that I can save her, just tell me," he growled at him.

Peter held up a halting hand. "I'm telling you, I heard it's possible."

"How?"

"It's that spark of power that makes you an Alpha. When you take her pain she draws on that power that provides you with those special gifts. The power that heightens your senses, your strength, the power that transforms your body. As an Alpha, you have that bit of extra, that spark which intensifies the color of your eyes from a bright yellow to a searing red."

Derek was starting to understand where Peter was going with this. He was understanding…what would happen. "If I could save her-

"If," Peter cut him off. "If. I didn't say that it works every time." Peter then looked away from him and went to the window. "Could just as easily kill you."

But Derek took a look at his sister, and his choice was clear. "How do I do it?" Derek didn't see it but Peter's eyes narrowed as he let loose a small smirk. "By taking her pain?" he asked.

"And then some," Peter answered him. "There is a cost."

* * *

Allison and her father were in his office with cases spread out all over the room. They were opening some of them and bringing weapons out to pile them on the table. They locked and loaded the guns. Chris took a handgun and aimed it out as he tested his grip on it. Then, he suddenly turned around and aimed it for the door of his office to find Isaac there with his hands raised.

"The door was unlocked," Isaac said to them.

"Isaac," Chris let out an annoyed breath as he went and pocketed his gun.

He stepped inside and eyed the arsenal they were laying out. "I thought you were retired."

"We are," Chris told the boy. "But not defenseless," he said casting a look towards his daughter.

Isaac nodded. "Well, I might not know how to use a gun," he said before bringing out his claws. "But I'm getting pretty good with these."

"What happened with Cora? And with Stiles?" Allison asked him.

"Derek's keeping Cora at his place. But Stiles told me something that I think you guys should know."

Isaac then laid out everything Stiles said about how Jennifer took them, the Guardian sacrifices and that Ms. Blake had chosen Allison's dad.

"Our name, on the elevator doors?" Allison asked him getting a little pale. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "That's what Stiles told me."

"Me, a guardian sacrifice?" said Chris. "Well, I haven't exactly been much of that lately."

"That doesn't matter," Allison nearly shouted as panic started to set in. "If she's after you then we need to keep you safe."

"Don't worry sweetheart," he said before he went and grabbed another gun. "I won't be like the others she took."

"Really? Because Stiles' father also had a gun and it didn't stop Ms. Blake from taking him," she argued.

"That's why I'm taking more than one," he said pocketing another.

They then went to spread a map of the town with the telluric currents on them. "If she is holding Stiles' father and Scott's mother alive then it has to be along the telluric current."

Isaac narrowed his eyes at the map. "But where? There's too many places to look."

"Well, we won't be looking at the places that she's already used. That significantly narrows down our choices," Chris told him.

But Allison caught her breath. "Hey, what about a place she wanted to use, but didn't work?" She then pointed to a spot on the map.

Isaac knew the spot. "The bank vault?"

"That's where she was trying to sacrifice Deaton."

"But Scott and the Sheriff saved him," Chris said catching on.

Allison shook her head. "She can still use it."

* * *

Lydia was at the mirror, looking solemnly as she rubbed at the bruises on her neck with her mother right beside her.

"Okay sweetheart, this is not a problem," Ms. Martin said reassuringly. "Having gotten my share of hickies in high school I developed some patented cover up methods." She went for a makeup kit but Lydia raised her hand to stop her. Ms. Martin's face fell a bit. "If you don't want to go to school honey, you don't have to."

But Lydia shook her head. "That's not it. It's just…someone tried to strangle me…and I survived." Her face became resolute. "I don't need to hide that."

That made her mother smile a bit. She then went and put the makeup kit down and started to rub at her daughter's hair. "No, no you don't." She then went and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "But, we're still going to do your hair, right?"

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Of course we're doing my hair. Duh."

That made both of them laugh with each other. Lydia's phone beeped and her mother, who was the closest to it, reached for it as Lydia reached for a brush.

"You got a message." Ms. Martin said.

"Aiden?" she asked as she ran the brush down her hair.

"No. Stiles."

That made Lydia freeze in mid brush.

* * *

Isaac went with the Argents as they looked through the bank. They quickly, but carefully, headed for the bank vault. Isaac tensed as he stepped inside the place that he knew Erica and Boyd were kept by the Alphas for months. Chris stepped further inside as Allison stayed alongside Isaac.

She looked and noticed how he was and realized why this place wouldn't be good for him. "You okay?" she whispered to him.

He spared her a look before he turned away. "Yeah. I'm fine."

Allison knew that wasn't true but nodded nonetheless. She then started to step off a bit. "It's empty," she said to her father.

"Be careful anyway," Chris said before he reached for his electric rod and charged it up.

Isaac's eyes followed the light from the electricity it was firing out. "I thought that you only used those things on werewolves?" he asked him. He didn't know why but he got a chill going up his spine.

Chris stopped moving. "I do."

There was no warning when he went and jammed it right into Isaac's chest. The electricity poured into him and stunned him stiff before he fell motionless to the floor. Allison gasped and covered her mouth in shock as her eyes followed Isaac's drop. Chris used that moment to go to her and quickly cuff her wrist to the bars near the wall.

"What the hell are you doing?" Allison shrieked at him.

He gave her a somber look. "I'm sorry, but you're just gonna have to trust me on this." He then moved to bring out his gun and stepped away from her. "I knew for a long time that she just didn't operate on the currents, she was in sync with them." He then dropped his gun as his eyes fell on the vault door.

Both Allison and Isaac looked over to it to as Jennifer Blake started to step inside and she smiled savagely at Chris.

"Now this is a sacrifice," she said happily.

Allison gasped as she watched Jennifer move in and then take her father before her very eyes with her powerless to stop it. Allison leaned against the wall, shaking her head as she shut her eyes and let some tears fall. Her father was gone. Taken, just like Stiles' dad and Scott's mom. He was all she had left of her family and he was gone.

Isaac started crawling for Allison, fighting through the effects of the shock that her father gave him. He could sense her sadness and pain and it made him grit his teeth. He pushed himself to stand on his feet again and move for her. He finally reached her and took her hand. She didn't seem to notice him there. Isaac then pulled on the cuffs until the snapped the chain and the force nearly made them both fall over.

She finally opened her eyes. "Why did he do that?" she asked when she regained her balance.

He shook his head. "I don't know. We need to go," he said softly. "Okay? We need help." But before he could move, Allison went and reached for his hand as she just stayed firmly in the spot where she last saw her father. Isaac told hold of her. "Allison," he said to try and gently shake her out of this. "We have to go."

"They're all going to die…aren't they?" she asked him in a cracked voice.

Isaac let out a pained breath as he went and took Allison into a tight hug. She cried into him as he rubbed that back of her head and back to try and calm her down. They stayed there, with her soft cries echoing through the dark vault.

* * *

Lydia was sitting in her living room as Stiles stood opposite her and told her everything that had happened over at the hospital last night. Lydia just shook her head at the end of it.

"No, I don't believe it," she told him sternly. "Scott can't really be with them. He can't be."

But Stiles slowly shut his eyes. "You didn't see the look on his face. It was just…"

Lydia narrowed her eyes. "Then, what can I do? I mean, I get that I'm some sort of human Geiger Counter for death but, I don't know how to turn it on and off yet. All I know is that she tried to kill me because of-" But she froze.

Stiles tensed. "Because of what? Lydia, what?"

"When she called me a Banshee…she was surprised by it. What if that's not why she tried to kill me?"

"Wait," Stiles said as he straightened himself up. "The last time she tried to kill someone but not sacrifice them was-

"Danny," Lydia mumbled.

Stiles nodded. "Because he knew something. The telluric currents which she was using to sacrifice those people on and scatter the bodies."

"Ms. Blake said that I wasn't a sacrifice. I was just a girl who knew too much." Lydia then started shaking her head. "But, I don't know what that is…and if we're going to get your dad, Scott's mom and Scott back, then that's what we need to find out."

Stiles wiped at the bottom of his chin in thought. "Then we need to go and find someone that does."

* * *

At the loft, Derek stared at his sister and he thought on what was about to happen. He was about to sacrifice his position, his power of an Alpha. It didn't seem like a great loss to him, especially if it could get Cora back. It wasn't like he was ever a great one, after all, he had to lie and deceive Scott in order to get the chance to even become an Alpha in the first place. From the moment that he had become an Alpha, nothing seemed to go right. He couldn't persuade Scott or Stiles to be a part of his pack. He had to manipulate three lonely teens to even get them to agree to join him and they followed him for only a short while before they were ready to leave him. Scott and Stiles had to move in to help and try and save them when he, their Alpha, couldn't even protect them. He remembered Stiles' words at the hospital. He was a terrible Alpha…and a terrible brother. He could live with being a total failure of an Alpha, but he couldn't as a failure of a big brother.

Derek was moving to prepare to heal Cora but Peter moved a hand to halt him. "I can understand not seeing a downside to this as you haven't been Alpha of the year, but think about what else you'll be losing," he said trying to reason with his nephew.

Derek's eyes didn't move away from Cora. "I don't care about power. Not anymore."

But Peter scrunched his eyes up at him. "What about the power to fight back? Correct me if I'm wrong but Kali's ultimatum still stands. The full moon is tomorrow night and if you couldn't beat her as an Alpha how do you think you'll fair as a beta?"

That got Derek to turn away from Cora and look at him. "I don't care."

"Maybe you should care. Don't forget, Kali isn't the only problem. Deucalion is out there and has Scott in the palm of his hand. And, you might have been knocked out to fully hear and sense it, but this town's new Beast is starting to seriously rattle a certain Stiles shaped cage. Chances are, his power will fully awaken by the full moon, and Deucalion will be right there to see it and then take it. Who's going to stop him? What if….this is _exactly_ what Jennifer was hoping for all along? She would know that the only way for you to save Cora was for you to give up your power? You heard Stiles say to her that she wouldn't heal her because she was the only leverage against you. Maybe she was planning on you healing her yourself all along."

"Why?"

"So you wouldn't be able to face the Alphas without her," Peter practically spat at him. "For you to know that the only option left to stop Deucalion and Kali was for you to join her. It's all part of her little seduction and she is _still_ seducing you. She needs you on her side."

Derek spared a moment to consider his words before he looked back at his sister.

* * *

Chris started to twitch as he slowly came to and gasped as he found himself to be tied up to a wooden beam in a dark place.

"You okay over there?" Chris turned to see Sheriff Stilinski tied up himself a little further down.

Across from the Sheriff was Scott's mother Melissa. "Chris?" she said. "It's Chris right?"

Chris nodded before he started to look more closely at their surroundings. He saw that it was a cellar and his eyes widened when he saw the roots of the tree.

That didn't go unnoticed by the Sheriff. "Is it me or has someone been here before."

"Years ago," Chris muttered. He then brought himself back to try and loosen the bindings on his hands enough to try and move them as he angled his foot to them.

"Uh, hate to disappoint you but we watched her take your ankle knife," the sheriff told him.

Chris moved again but Melissa shook her head. "And the knife that's in your sleeve."

He began to move again but the sheriff spoke again. "And the switchblade in your other sleeve," he slurred out.

Chris let out a grunt of aggravation just before the cellar doors opened and Jennifer started to step on inside. "And the taser in your jacket pocket." She then got to the landing and started to circle him. "Argent, the French word for silver." She then bent down with a washcloth and moved it towards where Chris was bleeding at the top of his head. He tried to move away but she lightly gripped his chin to make him face her. "Interesting how truth can get altered by legend," she said to him as she dabbed the cloth to wipe off some blood. "When it's not actually the metal silver that kills werewolves but the family. What's the Argent code again? We hunt those that hunt us. I hope you don't mind if I borrow it for a little while since I've been hunted myself."

"Don't pretend that we're the same cause," Chris muttered to her with a bit of a glare. "I don't kill innocent people."

But that only made Jennifer glare at him. "That's why they call it a sacrifice. I wish it were another way, but think about what you're doing. What the three of you are doing. You are helping to make this town, this world, a safer place for your children." Then she looked over at Melissa. "Well, most of them." Melissa went to glare at her but Jennifer quickly looked back over at Chris. "And don't pretend that you are somehow better than I am Chris. You might not kill innocent people…but unlike you I don't enjoy torturing them." She then looked over at the Sheriff. "I'm sure his boy could attest to that."

Chris spared the Sheriff a look and saw the man glaring slightly at him. A look he had seen before on another's face a couple of months ago.

* * *

Stiles took Lydia to school with him in his jeep and the moment they stepped out, they went on the prowl for Aiden. They hoped he might have a clue that could tell them what made Lydia so special, since, he had gone after Lydia per Deucalion's request. But, after an hour of scouring the halls, there was no sign of him.

Lydia looked at her phone and hung up after the fourth attempt to call him. "Aiden's not picking up or texting me back."

Stiles was looking about. "I'm not picking up his scent anywhere either. Ethan's neither. It doesn't look like they showed up today." Stiles then just stopped in the middle of the hall, completely deflated.

Lydia gave him a look. "Okay…well, maybe we could just go over there and-"

But Stiles got a message on his phone and quickly went for it. He hoped that it was Scott, but he saw that it was from Isaac. He hoped that he and the Argents were able to find something. But he then opened it and his eyes twitched at what was written.

Lydia noticed it. "What?" She then noticed how Stiles tightened his grip on his phone. That seemed to tell her enough. "Oh god, what is it now?" she mumbled.

Stiles twitched again. "It…it's from Isaac. Jennifer, she, she has Allison's father. She took him. She has all three now." Stiles' hand was shaking so much he was barely able to put his phone back in his pocket.

"There's still time," Lydia quickly said. "We still have time, right?"

But Stiles looked at her and saw that his vision was starting to blur. His head was starting to get light and he was feeling his chest start to clog up. He could vaguely hear Lydia talk to him, asking him what was wrong. Everything around him seemed to be acting up. Some things seemed to freeze in motion, others seemed to speed up. He was having a little trouble breathing and was starting to shake where he stood. He looked back at Lydia and her eyes widened when she saw a flash of gold travel across his eyes.

"I think I'm having a panic attack," he choked out.

At that, Lydia took Stiles by his arm and dragged him off into the locker room, which thankfully was empty right now. "Hurry," she said as she closed the door behind them.

Stiles dropped his bag and pushed himself away from her as he stumbled inside and then fell to his knees. He then fell on his arms as he his breathing started to quicken. Lydia tried to go to him but he went and pushed her hand away. "Get away," Stiles coughed out as he started to try and separate from her. He got half way up before he stumbled and fell into the opposite wall. He then moved to sit up against it as he moved to hold onto his chest.

Lydia moved to sit down beside him and noticed that the tips of Stiles' fingers were now sporting claws. His head was bent down but she could see that his ears were starting to get pointed. He was shifting, right there. "Stiles, calm down. You're shifting. I thought you knew how to control it."

"I…I can't," he gasped. Stiles had always had firm anchors. His dad and his best friend. He always had a least one to keep him from completely losing it. But now, for the first time, he didn't have either one of them. His dad was captured, and for all he knew dead or dying right now. His best friend Scott, was now with Deucalion, the one that wanted to kill him.

Lydia saw that Stiles' eyes were glowing gold again but it didn't look like it was going away. "Uh, just think of something," she said to him quickly.

"Like what?" he puffed out.

"Uh, think of your friends. Family." That made Stiles let go of his chest and grip the floor. "Okay, not family," she said realizing her mistake. She saw Stiles' claws start to dig into the floor as his breathing quickened. "Try and slow your breathing."

"I can't," he cried. "I can't. I can't!" he all but roared the last part.

"Stiles, look at me." Lydia then moved to grab onto Stiles' face. She saw that the gold in Stiles eyes were starting to burn brighter and she could make out the whites of his eyes start to darken. Sideburns were starting to form in front of his ears and his breathing intensified more. "Stiles," she said softly before she went and pressed her lips to his.

Lydia felt the sideburns around his ears start to fade and could feel that Stiles' body started to settle down. She then slowly pulled away from him to see that the gold in his eyes was starting to dim out until they were back to their original honey brown. His breathing was starting to slow and his shoulders seemed to relax.

Stiles was just staring at her. He had lost track of how many times he visualized his first kiss with Lydia Martin. This kind of scenario never made close to what had just happened. Ever since he made his mind to finally try and get over her, the amount of times he imagined this moment started to get further and further apart. He also realized that while he did feel warm and content inside, it wasn't as fulfilling as he always thought it would be.

He then noticed that his panic attack was gone and he was starting to have control of himself again. "How did you do that?" he asked her.

"I, uh…read once that, holding your breath can stop a panic attack. So…when I kissed you, you held your breath."

Stiles widened his eyes. "I, I did?"

Lydia nodded. "Yeah, you did."

Stiles then nodded too as his eyes began to shine a bit. "Thanks. That, was really smart."

The both of them started to calm down and began to feel a bit awkward about how and where they were. They moved to both sit up straight.

"I just read it somewhere," Lydia said to him. "And, if I was really smart then I would tell you to sign up for a few sessions with our guidance counselor."

Stiles let out a breathless snort before his eyes narrowed. "Morrell," he muttered before looking straight up at her.

Lydia's widened as she looked back at him. How could they had forgotten? There was someone else that might have the answers that they needed.

They then grabbed their things and broke into a run for the guidance office. They entered the room but found that only a student was there in front of an empty desk.

"Are you here for Ms. Morrell?" Stiles asked her.

"No, I thought this was gym class," she sassed at him.

Lydia gave her a look. "Sweetheart, we're not in the mood for funny. Do you know where she is?"

The girl held her arms out at the table. "If I did then I wouldn't be waiting here for twenty minutes. So, how about you two back out the door and wait your turn?" she sassed at them again.

"We're not here for a session," Lydia sassed back at her.

"Well I am and I've got some serious issues to work on."

"Whoa, wait," Stiles said holding out his hand. "You're Danielle. You're Heather's best friend," he said recognizing her from her birthday party.

Danielle fell back into her chair and her eyes dropped a bit. "I was Heather's best friend. We've been working on that issue three times a week," she said a little sadly.

But Lydia shook her head. "Hold on, did you say that Ms. Morrell was twenty minutes late?"

"Yeah, and I don't know why either. She's always on time."

Lydia turned to look back at Stiles. "I was seeing her the beginning of the semester, she was never late."

Stiles narrowed her eyes. "Then she's not late. She's missing."

"What if we're not the only ones that think she knows something?" she asked him.

Stiles took a look over at her desk. "Then I want to know what she knows." He then moved to head for the drawers of her desk.

"What are you doing?" Dannielle asked him.

"Trying to find her," he answered.

"Those files are private," she tried arguing with him.

"Uh, yeah, she's kind of right," Lydia said agreeing with her.

But Stiles pulled out a file. "That one's yours."

"Let me see that," Lydia said grabbing it.

She set it down and opened it to reveal some papers. One of them was a drawing. Stiles looked up and noticed it too. One he recognized from back when he and Cora had tried to get her to help them with finding Deaton when he was taken.

"Wait, Lydia that's your drawing," he said.

Lydia shrugged. "Yeah, I know. It's a tree."

Danielle moved to take a look at it herself. "Yeah. Good too."

Lydia smiled at her. "Thank you."

But Stiles shook his head. "No, Lydia, that's the same one though."

"The same what?"

"The same one I always see you drawing in class."

"It's a tree. I draw trees," she said feeling a little defensive.

"No, it's the _exact_ same one," Stiles said before moving over to her. He then moved to reveal another one. "See? Give me your bag." He then went and pulled out Lydia's notebook and opened it next to the drawing where there was another drawing of the same tree. "See?"

Stiles then turned the pages of her notebook to reveal that page after page had the drawing of the same exact tree in various sizes. But they were the same one, down to the smallest detail.

Danielle's eyes widened at that before she shook her head. "Okay, you can have my session," she said going for her bag. "You've got bigger issues." She then left, leaving the two of them alone.

"What is this?" Lydia said feeling a little freaked out now.

"This tree," Stiles mumbled. "Yesterday, in class, I felt Ms. Blake get mad…and scared. She was looking at you. No, she was looking at this tree. That's why she went after you."

"Over a tree? Why?"

Stiles dropped his eyes a bit as his mind raced. It had to be something relating to the sacrifices. Stiles couldn't remember hearing anything about a tree during any of this. But…he did hear about something else tree related. Stiles took the drawing and slowly turned it around where it didn't look like a tree anymore, but a tree stump and roots. Then Stiles remembered stories that he and Scott heard not too long ago involving a place with roots.

"I know where they are," he breathed out.


	21. Alpha Pact part 2

Chapter 21: Alpha Pact part 2

Stiles quickly opened the door and headed out of the office with Lydia hot on his trail.

"It's called the Nemeton. That's where she's keeping them. It has to be," Stiles said to her.

Yet, before they could move too far to begin to anything about this they were halted by a loud voice.

"Stilinski!"

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the sight of Agent McCall before he let out a tired breath and turned back to Lydia. "Alright, go to Derek's. He and Peter have been there before, they know where it is. Tell them that it's the root cellar. Alright, they'll know."

She nodded and she moved to head on out before Stiles bit the corner of his cheek and turned around to see that Scott's dad had moved to now be in front of him.

"Do you know that your dad's car is in the school parking lot and has been since last night?" Agent McCall asked him.

Stiles shook his head. "I didn't know. What's that mean?"

"It means he's officially missing." They then went to an empty classroom so that they could talk in private. "Stiles, why do I have the feeling that you know something that could help us find your dad?"

Stiles shrugged. "If I did, why would I not tell you?"

"If it meant helping your dad, why wouldn't you?" McCall asked back.

"So, you're asking me to tell you what I would not tell you?"

"Uh, first I have no idea what you just said. Second, how about you help me help you?"

"Well, I don't know how to help you help me tell you something that would help you if I don't know it," Stiles said unflinchingly back at him.

That made Agent McCall narrow his eyes at him. "Are you doing this on purpose?"

Stiles just rolled his eyes. He didn't have time to waste on Scott's dad trying to play detective with him. "I don't know anything, okay. Can I just go?"

"Where are your other friends?"

That actually made Stiles narrow his eyes at him. "Oh, you mean Scott?" he said trying not to sound too angry at the fact that he couldn't directly ask about his own son.

He pulled out a notepad. "I mean Scott, Isaac Lahey, Allison Argent, these twins Ethan and Aiden. I've been told your whole little clique didn't show up in school today."

At the sound of each of those names, Stiles found himself struggling not to just storm out. "I don't have a clique," he forced himself to say.

"Stiles, come on. There's been a disturbing amount of violent activity in this county in the last few months. Several murders tied to this school. A few of them tied to you and even Scott with Allison Argent's late aunt, who I understand was dating Scott before this was all brought to light. Now, I don't know what's going on here, but it's serious." Stiles just looked away from him. Stiles couldn't believe that Scott's dad cared enough to check in on what was going on with Scott's life when his job forced him to do that. The guy who didn't even care enough to even drop one phone call to his son in the last few years. Stiles now wouldn't say a word to this guy on principle. "Hey," Agent McCall said making him look back at him. "Your dad is missing." That only made Stiles keep a glare on him but stayed silent. That made McCall stand up. "Fine, but I don't want you going home alone. You have someone you could stay with tonight?"

Before Stiles could muster up something to say to that, he was beaten to the punch.

"He's with me," Alan Deaton said from the doorway.

Stiles looked from Deaton to McCall. "I'm with him."

"Dr. Deaton," McCall said to him.

"Agent McCall," Deaton said back to him in the same tone.

Agent McCall looked from the boy to the man with some mild suspicion before he nodded. "Okay. Go on but if you hear or see anything then I want you to call the station about it immediately. Both of you."

"Of course," Deaton said before nodding over at Stiles.

Stiles grabbed his bag and went for him and they calmly left Agent McCall standing there looking after the two of them.

Stiles spared a look behind them before looking at Deaton. "What are you doing here?"

"My sister called me. She figured that at least one of you might try seeking her sooner or later."

Stiles nodded. "Did she tell you what we would want to talk to her about?"

Deaton looked him in the eye. "She did, so I think we better talk."

Stiles nodded but he froze. "Wait, why couldn't your sister talk with us?"

* * *

Ms. Morrell was running through the woods as hard as she could. Night was falling but it would do little to hide her from who was pursuing her. She took a moment to stop when the sounds of howls started echoing in the trees. She then took a breath and continued running.

Ethan and Aiden were rushing through the trees when they caught Morrell's scent.

"This way," Aiden said to his brother before he took off with his brother right beside him.

Deucalion was with Scott, gazing out at the scene in front of him in infrared as he detected a spot of bright light. He stopped and narrowed his eyes as he gazed at it.

Scott noticed Deucalion's stare and thought he looked confused. "It's a firefly."

Deucalion nodded. "Unusual for this region."

Scott looked over at the firefly. "It's because of Jennifer, isn't it? Just before all of this started a deer crashed into Lydia's car. Cats went crazy at the animal clinic. Birds flew into the high school. It was all her," he realized. Before, they had assumed that this was happening because of the Alpha Pack arriving into town but he now saw that it wasn't because of them at all.

"They say that animals can sense natural disasters before they're about to happen. Maybe they can sense supernatural ones as well?"

"Does she scare you?" Scott asked.

"She, concerns me," answered Deucalion. "If she's willing to kill that many innocent people for her cause. People like your mother and Stiles' father."

"Are you willing to kill innocent people?"

"I'll kill anything that gets in my way."

Scott narrowed his eyes a bit. "Like you're willing to kill Stiles? He won't get in your way."

"No?" he said looking straight back at Scott. "Do you truly believe that?"

Scott didn't answer that. He just stayed there, glaring at Deucalion as he stared blankly back at him. Deucalion then started moving ahead and Scott followed after him.

Ms. Morrell was running into a clearing but saw that they were catching up to her. She quickly raised her hand and surrounded herself mountain ash that formed a ring around her. The twins ran for her but they bounced right off the barrier she set. They flew back as some blue light flickered in the air around where they hit. Kali then emerged from the trees and she along with the twins began to surround her. Soon enough, they were joined by Deucalion and Scott.

"How did you know Marin? That we'd come for you?" asked Deucalion.

"Because Jennifer and I are the same," Morrell said pointedly. "And I know that you've always been suspicious of us. Of what we can do."

"With good reason," Kali began to circle her. "We know you sent that girl. The one that helped Isaac."

"What was her name?" Deucalion asked softly.

"Braeden," she spat at him. "And I sent her to do what I've always done. Maintain balance."

"What do you know about Jennifer?" Kali asked her.

"Nothing more than you do." She then turned to look at Scott. "This isn't you Scott. Go back to your friends," she told him sternly.

Scott's eyes widened but Deucalion pointed his stick towards him. "He can decide what's right for himself."

"Not without all of the information," Morrell spat out. "Have you told him everything you've done? How you've piled up bodies in a psychotic and narcissistic effort to build your perfect pack? Bodies that include Ennis by the way." That made Kali and the Twins spare Deucalion a look. "My brother saved him. He was alive when Deucalion went in to see him." She then looked over at Kali. "He wants you to go after Derek Kali. To force his decision. Because if Derek joins the pack it will pave the way for Scott and will further entice the Beast to be released from Stiles." Scott tensed up a bit at the look Morrell was giving him. "Scott, don't you see that Deucalion's drawing out your time with him so you'll be away from your best friend to further temper Stiles to tap his inner power," she said to him again. "To try and hasten it being brought to the surface."

But Deucalion didn't look disturbed at all. He just shrugged. "The lies the people will tell when they're begging for their life," he said simply.

"Then tell him Deucalion. Tell Scott, _exactly_ , where is Jennifer keeping his mother, Stiles' father and Allison's father?" That made Scott's eyes widen. Morrell noticed it. "He hasn't even told you about that, has he?"

But Deucalion went and took his stick and uncovered the bladed end and then flung it at Morrell. It went and connected straight into her shoulder and made her fall out of the ring of mountain ash. Scott ran straight to her as Kali and the Twins roared. They were ready to charge for her but Scott held his hand out at them.

"Hey," he spat. "Back off!" That made them stop but glare at them just the same. Scott then went to Deucalion's stick and then yanked it out of her as Morrell let out a hard shout. "I'm not going to let them hurt you. But, if you know something. Then, you better tell me."

"The Nemeton," she coughed out. "Find it and you'll find Jennifer. Find the Nemeton. Help your friends."

* * *

Lydia found herself knocking on the door to the loft. She waited a few moments before she heard it unlatching and the door slid open to reveal the face of Peter Hale. Allison froze in shock as did Peter. The last time that they had seen each other was the night of the Winter Formal when Peter had bitten her and left her bleeding out in the middle of the lacrosse field.

"You," Lydia managed to say.

"Me," Peter said back to her.

Lydia narrowed her eyes a bit. "You," she repeated in a lower and pointed tone of voice.

Peter actually began to look down. "Me." He then let out a hard huff. "Derek!" he called out behind him. "We have a visitor," he said before stepping aside to let her in.

She went in to see Derek sitting by Cora's side as she rested on the cot. "How is she?" Lydia asked him.

Derek gave Cora's hand a gentle squeeze. "She'll be fine," he said resolutely before turning back to her. "Did the others find anything?"

"Oh, you won't believe what we found." Lydia then updated Derek and Peter to everything that was happening and Stiles' theory that Jennifer was keeping everyone at the root cellar with the Nemeton. But, both Peter and Derek said that they didn't know where it was. "You don't know where it is? But Stiles said that you've been there."

"We have," Peter confirmed before sharing a look with his nephew. "But after a few memorable experiences there Talia, Derek's mother and my older sister, decided that she didn't ever want us going back. She knew how dangerous it was and took the memory of its location away from us."

"Then how are we supposed to find it?"

Peter shrugged and Derek just returned to staring at his sister. Lydia saw that they weren't going to be any help.

* * *

At the root cellar, Chris Argent was doing everything he could to try and get out of his bonds but Melissa and the Sheriff just sat still and watched him dully as he struggled to no avail.

"Uh, I don't want to kill your optimism or anything," Melissa said making Chris look over at her. "But the both of us had been doing the exact same thing for hours."

"You've been tied up before?" the sheriff asked him.

"Many times," Chris drawled out.

"Oh, is that all part of being a werewolf hunter?" he slurred out. "Aside from torturing them I mean."

Chris froze and stared at him. "You shouldn't believe what she said."

But the sheriff just narrowed his eyes further. "So, the night that my son disappeared during that Final Lacrosse game a few months ago, and came back home with large bruises and cuts all over his face, that wasn't your handiwork?"

Chris straightened up against the pillar he was tied to. "That wasn't me. I'm actually the one that released Stiles and your son saw fit to pay me back by clawing up my arm."

"Oh, and did you just happen to stumble upon my son getting tortured?" the sheriff spat.

The hunter let a frustrated breath loose. "That was my father, not me," he said in a low but defensive tone.

"So Scott nearly getting crushed between two cars outside his school and getting an arrow through his arm, I suppose that wasn't you too?" That made Chris jaw tighten. "Yeah, Stiles told me about that too."

Melissa's face fell. "What?"

The sheriff looked back at her. "You didn't know about that?"

"No," she said before she went to glare over at the hunter. "He _conveniently_ never mentioned any of that to me."

"I only did what I felt I had to," Chris told her. "People were dying here in this town."

"So you thought you'd add our sons to the body count?" Melissa spat.

"We had no way of knowing if your sons were innocent or not," he argued.

But she narrowed her eyes at him. "So, you were just being professional? You going after the boys, after Scott, it wasn't in any way personal?"

Chris just narrowed his eyes at her as she glared at him. "What do you want me to say? That I might have wanted to go after your son. Fine, I'll admit it. There was, some part of me, that did want to go after him for him dragging my daughter into all of this, but I wasn't going to kill him. I just wanted to scare him away. Nothing I did would've killed him. Or Stiles," he said looking over at the Sheriff. "Though, he is not exactly as innocent as Scott. Or did he _conveniently_ not mention what he did?" The sheriff's eyes loosened a bit so he took that as a sign that he didn't. "That he attacked my men, my friends, and scarred them and made it look like common animal attacks."

But the sheriff just glared at him. "Oh, and I suppose that my son just did all that for the hell of it. I'm sure that your men didn't in any way deserve any of it? Right?" It was becoming clear to Chris where Stiles had gotten his sarcastic wit from. "I looked into the background of those men that were attacked. They weren't exactly model citizens."

"Maybe not but they didn't deserve any of that either," Chris countered. "They were just trying to keep the town safe. Safe from things that they were prepared to face that go beyond what most believe exist and can deal with. Things that now include your son. You haven't seen what someone like him could really do."

But that just made the Sheriff angrier. "I'm his father jackass. If I had known what was really going on, then I would've handled it. I would've protected my son with everything I had," he said with his tone hard and firm.

"You knew. On some level you knew." Chris settled a bit. "I know you've been investigating and digging into old unsolved and unusual cases. You might have been trying to find a logical and rational explanation but you knew that something out of the ordinary was going on. And not just this year."

"What are you talking about?" he asked him.

"We've met before. It was back before you were Sheriff. You came to me, questioned me about a body. You knew something was up. You just weren't ready to believe it."

Melissa looked from Chris to the Sheriff. Her face mirroring the surprise and confusion running through her mind.

But the Sheriff just brought his eyes down. "You're right." He then looked back up at Melissa. "There was a night, eight years ago. The night my wife died. It was the end of my shift, when a call came in. There had been a pileup and a young woman, a teenager actually. She was trapped under an overturned car. We had to wait for the paramedics, we were never getting her out." As he spoke, both Melissa and Chris silently mulled over in the story. They could sense where this was all leading the more he said. "But, I was able to hold her hand. She knew that she was going to die…but I just kept telling her no. I told her the paramedics were on their way. Then I remember, her hand suddenly gripped mine so tightly that I…I literally thought she was going to break the bones. She looked me in the eye and said, If you want to be with her, go now. And, I knew that she was talking about my wife. But, that other part of my brain, the part that looks for clues, for fingerprints, for logical connections, that part told me that there was no way that this girl could know about Claudia. So I stayed. I stayed until the paramedics pulled her out. Until her heart stopped beating, and they declared her dead. When I finally got to the hospital…I saw Stiles sitting in the waiting room, with his head in his hands. He was with Claudia when she died, but I wasn't. I wasn't with her, because I didn't believe. I just, did not believe," he finished with a semblance of anger, anger towards himself. Because his refusal to believe had cost him his wife's final moments and had made his last words to his son be of anger and dismissal.

The silence that followed after he finished was deafening. Melissa and Chris just looked down, thinking of their own situations with their children. Melissa guessed that Scott was probably blaming himself for getting her involved in all of this and she, more than anything, wanted him to know that she chose to be involved. It was her choice and not his fault. Chris knew that the last memory his daughter might have of him would be of how he had forced her to be powerless as she watch him be taken in front of her. He didn't want that for her. Not for her last memories of both her parents to be bad ones.

Chris wouldn't have that so he tried to think on his options and saw that there might be one left. He felt around his sleeve and felt that it was still there. Jennifer must've not thought that it was dangerous for Chris to still keep with him. That was her mistake. He wriggled around and managed to pull it out.

"What is that?" Melissa asked him.

"An ultra-sonic emitter. It's a smaller version of what we use to corral werewolves. Only they hear it. Most of the time, we use it to push them away, let's see if it works to attract them." He then turned it on so that it could begin to release its signal.

* * *

At the animal clinic, Stiles and Deaton had called and gathered Lydia, Allison and Isaac there to talk about the Nemeton and how they believed that was where she was keeping them. Lydia shared the news that Peter and Derek had been made to forget where the cellar was. Unfortunately, Deaton told them that he didn't know exactly where it was either.

But Stiles wasn't prepared to give up. Not now. "It has to be on a telluric current or maybe even on the axis of two where they all intersect. I just know it's where Derek took Paige to die."

Allison leaned on in close to him but Stiles was so tense enough already that he didn't flinch when she got close. "My dad and Gerard were there once, but Gerard said it was years ago and he couldn't remember where it was. My dad, obviously, isn't here to tell us."

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, mine either."

"Then how do we find this place?" Isaac asked them.

Deaton had been off to the side, silently considering the options and knew of one. One he didn't want to share but it seemed like there wouldn't be any other choice. "There might be a way," he told them. "But, it's dangerous."

Stiles could sense the glimmer of fear that was running through Deaton. "Dangerous? How do you mean?"

"I'll explain but there is something we have to do first." He then turned to face Stiles. "We're going to need Scott. Stiles, try contacting him, one more time."

Stiles pulled out his phone. He stared at it for a moment before he began to send a text for them to meet at 'their spot'. They had a lead.

* * *

During the summer, Scott and Stiles spent much of their time gaining ground on their abilities in the woods. Listening and sensing the things in the forest and even trying to work on their speed and stealth. From that, their little 'Hunt and Hide' game had come to be. But after all of it, they would always return to a certain clearing where Stiles would leave his jeep where they would start and where they would return to, together. Stiles drove his Jeep there again, this time with Deaton, hoping to meet there with Scott. They waited for near an hour when there was some rustling of dry leaves and Scott started to step into view. Scott stopped for a moment to look over at Stiles who straightened up at the sight of him. Scott then moved to go over to them while Stiles and Deaton moved to meet him further into the clearing.

Stiles let his senses loose and realized that the Alphas didn't seem to be anywhere in sight. "You came alone," he said to him. "Where are all of your new friends?"

Scott tried very hard not to flinch at that. "They're trying to track down Jennifer."

Stiles put his hands into his pockets. "They know you're here?"

He nodded. "So, how did you guys find out?" Scott asked them.

"Lydia," Stiles said a bit stiffly. "You?"

"Morrell," Scott answered. "None of the other Alphas know where it is either."

"So, if this works then are you going to tell them?" Stiles asked as he looked at Scott with a bit of a glare..

It made Scott stiffen his jaw but he kept his eyes locked on him. "I can't stop Jennifer without them," he said in a low voice.

"How about we concentrate on finding your parents first?" Deaton cut in.

Scott and Stiles spared Deaton a look before they both took a deep breath. They knew that Deaton was right. Saving their parents had to come first.

"What's the plan?" Scott asked.

"Essentially, you, Allison and Stiles will have to be surrogate sacrifices for your parents."

Scott's eyes widened. "We die for them?"

Stiles nodded. "But, he can bring us back." Stiles then looked back at Deaton. "You, can bring us back, right?"

"You remember the part where I said it was dangerous?" Deaton told him making Stiles look away. "If it goes right, the three of you will be dead for a few seconds. But, there is something else that you need to think about. This is a dangerous thing for more reasons than one. You'll be giving power back to the Nemeton. A place that hasn't had power for a long time. This kind of power is like a magnet. It attracts the supernatural. The kind of things that a family like the Argents could fill the pages of a Bestiary with. It will draw them here like a beacon."

Stiles shrugged. "It…doesn't sound any worse than anything we've already seen," he tried to say feeling more confident than he felt.

But Deaton gave him a look. "You'd be surprised of what you've had yet to see," he said in a warning tone.

Scott felt nervous at the sound of that, but something still seemed unsettling about this. "Is that it?" he asked hopefully.

Deaton shook his head at him. "No. It will also have an effect on the three of you. You won't be able to see it, but you'll feel it, every day, for the rest of your lives. It will be a kind of…darkness, around your heart. And permanent, like a scar."

"Like a tattoo," Scott nearly whispered out thinking of the meanings of the word were back when he wanted to get his.

* * *

At the loft, Derek and Peter noticed that Cora seemed to be almost out of strength.

"It's gotta be now," Derek mumbled. "I don't have a choice."

"You always have a choice," Peter said to him. "It's whether or not you could live with the consequences. Facing Kali as a beta."

"It's not just a full moon coming. It's a lunar eclipse. We'll all be powerless."

Derek then took hold of his sister's wrist and then began to pour his power into her. He felt an intense pain travel up his spine to his head and felt it reach his eyes. His eyes flared bright red before they went and faded to blue.

* * *

In Deaton's clinic, three tubs like the one they had dunked Isaac in were set up and there were being filled with water and bags upon bags of ice cubes. Isaac, Lydia and Deaton were filling them as Scott, Stiles and Allison were pacing away, mentally preparing themselves. Soon enough everything was ready.

"Alright," Deaton said out to them so they could begin. "What did you bring?"

Stiles held out his father's police badge. It still looked kind of crumpled. "I brought my dad's badge. Jennifer kind of crushed it in her hand. I tried to hammer it back…still doesn't look great."

Deaton shook his head. "It doesn't need to look good if it has meaning."

Stiles nodded as he ran his fingers over it.

Isaac then looked at what Allison had in her hand. "Is that an actual silver bullet?"

Allison nodded as she kept her eyes locked on it solemnly. "My dad made it as a kind of ceremonial thing. When one of us finishes learning all the skills needed to be a hunter we forge a silver bullet as a testament to the code."

Deaton then turned his eyes to the last one. "Scott?"

Scott had his eyes on Allison since she started talking about her father and was shocked out of his stupor. He looked down at his hand and revealed a wristwatch. "My dad got my mom this watch when she first got hired at the hospital. She used to say that it was the only thing in their marriage that ever worked."

Stiles had been looking at Scott but then averted his eyes when he mentioned his father.

"Okay," Deaton nodded. "The three of you will get in and each of us will hold you down until you're essentially…well, dead. But, it's not just someone to hold you under. It needs to be someone that can pull you back. Someone that has a strong connection to you. A kind of emotional tether." Allison immediately looked over at Lydia who caught her eye. Lydia gave her a nod before beginning to move towards her. "Lydia," Deaton said stopping her. "You go with Stiles."

Lydia then moved to catch Stiles' eye. He gave her a nod to show that he agreed with Deaton. It made sense to him that it should be Lydia for him. At the school, she managed to pull him back before he completely gave in to his attack and went out of control. It seemed like he had himself a new anchor to add to his collection. One that could pull him back.

But Allison was now confused on what she would do now. "Are you sure? I mean, Scott and I both have to go under."

Stiles turned to look at her. "He's sure," he said drawing Allison to look at him. "You have someone else." Stiles' eyes then went to look over her shoulder.

Allison turned to look over at Isaac. She then remembered that Isaac had managed to pull her out of her despair back at the vault when her father was taken. Isaac stared back at her, with the same type of look that she had just shared with Lydia. He could pull her back just like before. But Allison then went and shared an uncomfortable look with Scott.

He was staring at her with a forlorn look but he forced it down. "It's okay," he almost whispered. He then forced himself to look away from her to Deaton. His friend, the one that had taken care of him before and after he'd been bitten. The one that helped to keep him grounded and focused when these things got to be overwhelming. He knew that he could pull him back.

Allison, Stiles and Scott stepped up to their tubs with their tokens firmly in their hand. They took a deep breath and then began to step inside. One foot after another into that freezing cold water. Their breathing increased as forced themselves to lower down until they were sitting in the tubs. Soon, only their heads were visibly above the water.

Stiles' teeth were chattering and he could hear Scott's breaths come out in loud puffs as he was trying to force himself to stay in. "By the way Scott," he choked out to him. "If I don't make it back and, you do, you should probably know something…your dad's in town."

That made Scott momentarily forget the cold as he just felt his whole being go numb at the thought of the one person that he had been trying very hard not to put any thought into for as long as he could remember.

But Scott felt Deaton resting his hands on his shoulders as Lydia rested her hands on Stiles and Isaac rested his on Allison's. The three in the tubs took one last breath before their tethers went and began to push them down. They were all dunked under the water as they slowly succumbed to death. Scott opened his eyes and his eyes flared gold. Before he blacked out, he remembered what Matt had once told him when he drowned. How there was no bright light when you die, there was only darkness. And that's what Scott saw as the light faded in his eyes, darkness.

* * *

Over at Scott's room, his father was sitting on his son's bed. He was glancing at the room, seeing how it had changed. A visible change was seeing a hardcover novel opened halfway, left by the foot of his bed. A tear fell from his eye.


	22. Lunar Eclipse

Chapter 22: Lunar Eclipse

Scott, Stiles and Allison found the pressure too much and they pushed themselves out of the water as they took their first breaths of fresh air. However, when they opened their eyes, they realized that they weren't in the animal clinic. They were in a brightly lit and open space. They went and got out of the tubs and saw that where they were seemed to stretch on forever. The three of them then turned around and saw what seemed to be a giant tree stump a little bit aways. They gave each other a look before they started to move for it. They saw that it was huge, big enough for a person to lie on it. As they studied it, Scott looked at the rings and saw it looked a lot like what he had traced with his fingers that inspired his tattoo. Stiles narrowed his eyes, as for some reason, this stump seemed familiar to him somehow. As for Allison, something about this thing made a chill travel up her spine. Scott stepped forward and then lay his hands on it.

Suddenly, Scott found himself in the woods, and it was night as well as lightly raining. He then heard something hit the ground behind him and he turned to see a shocking sight. He saw himself. It was him, on the night that he and Stiles had come looking for the body in the woods at the beginning of the year. He saw himself looked panicked as he stared off at a dark space before the Alpha appeared and pounced on him, biting him. Scott gasped as he saw himself get attack. This was so strange. Seeing himself being attacked as if it was someone else. From here he could see how he was kicking to be free from the Alpha mauling him. He then heard his name called and Scott looked beside him to see Stiles run with a thick branch in his hand and whack at the Alpha to try and help him. He then saw the Alpha push Stiles face first to ground before biting him on the arm and then toss his friend into the air. The Alpha then took off as past Scott ran off for the trees to try and find his friend and get out of there. Scott backed away in shock at seeing all of this before he hit something. He then turned and saw the tree stump. The Nemeton.

Stiles then found himself in the woods, and it was night. Stiles wondered what he was doing here when he suddenly heard voices. His ears twitched when he realized that it was Scott's voice and his own. He then saw both Scott and himself walking through the woods. Stiles realized where he was, or better yet, when. The night that they had gone looking for the body and been bitten. Stiles then handed Scott the flashlight right before he spotted the lights from the search party. Stiles then saw himself take off while Scott had fallen down a hill and they get separated. So, that's what had happened. He then saw himself duck to watch his dad and his deputies before he realized that Scott was missing. He then left from that spot moments before the search dogs went there to sniff around. His past self then stepped on a twig making a loud snap alerting his father and his deputies to his direction which made himself run to distance himself and try to not get caught. He ran deeper into the woods until he suddenly stopped, out of breath, and started stomping over to where his present self was standing. Stiles moved to get away when he turned and saw that it was the tree stump. The Nemeton.

Allison soon saw that she was in a car. Or rather, saw what looked like herself in a car, with her mother in the driver's seat as they drove down a dark road in the rain. Allison remembered this. This was the night that she had come to Beacon Hills. Her mother had gotten word that their new place was furnished so she had come to get her and the last of their stuff for the move. She wasn't happy about another move and her mother was trying to explain that her father's work as a 'security consultant' and 'firearms dealer'. She had told her mother she understood even though it was a little weird to see her father just leave during the night with duffle bags full of weapons when someone ran into the road and her mother had to quickly swerve the car to avoid hitting him. Allison had been shocked and was scared at the fact that her mother had almost killed someone. She frantically told her mother to stop and turn around so that they could check up on them and her mother finally relented. They turned to head back. There was no sign of him so Allison had stepped out of the car. She saw fresh footprints and had followed them but found nothing but an inhaler. Her mother then told them that they should leave when they suddenly heard a wolf howling. Her mother then took the inhaler from her and threw it off before taking her back to the car. Allison saw that the inhaler went and landed near a tree stump. The Nemeton.

* * *

Lydia, Isaac and Deaton were sitting in the animal clinic, silently watching the tubs of water. The ice of the tubs had long melted but the three inside hadn't moved a muscle since they had dunked them in and held them until they stopped moving. It was beginning to seem like it didn't work at all and they had helped kill them. But then, the three of them shot straight up from the tubs as one, each taking hard deep breaths.

"I saw it!" Scott cried out. "I know where it is!"

Stiles nodded as he moved to step out of the tub. "Yeah, I found it. It's a stump. A huge tree, well, it's not huge anymore. It was cut down but it was big though, very big. I went to rest on it for a bit when I tried to run from my dad and his deputies. Then I went to try and find you."

"To look for me after we separated," Scott nodded back at him. "That was the night that we went looking for the body."

"The night we were bitten by Peter," Stiles said as his mind went back to how they had stumbled upon the thing during what was the most life changing moment of their lives.

"I was there too," Allison said to them. "That night, me and my mother, we were driving and we almost hit someone on the road."

"That was me!" Scott cried out. "You almost hit me!" They knew where to go now. He then turned to the others. "We can find it," he told them excitedly.

But Deaton, Lydia and Isaac weren't as excited as them. In fact, they looked like someone had just died.

"What, what is it?" Allison asked them.

Isaac went and put his hands into his pockets. "You guys were out for a long time."

Stiles wiped the water from his face. "How long is a long time?"

"Sixteen hours," Deaton answered.

The three of them dropped their jaws a bit in shock.

"We've been in the water for sixteen hours?!" Scott's tone matched what the three of them were feeling on that.

Deaton nodded. "And the full moon is rising in less than four."

The three of them moved to look over at each other. They had found where their parents were, but it looked like they might not have much time to get to them now. Especially with Deucalion and Jennifer getting ready to make their moves. Lydia moved over and grabbed towels for the three of them to begin drying off.

"I've got to head back," said Scott as he wiped the water from arms.

But Stiles ripped the towel from the top of his head and rigorously shook it. "No dude, you're not going back with them."

"I made a deal with Deucalion," he said back to him.

Stiles raised his hand out to everyone. "Does anyone else think that sounds like a deal with the Devil?"

Isaac was one that wasn't happy with it. "Why does that matter anyway?"

"Because I still don't think that we could beat Jennifer without their help," he argued.

"And what happens after that?" Stiles said glaring at Scott. Do you think Deucalion's going to help you for free? He's going to want something in return…and you know what that something is. My heart on a silver platter. You're going to help him with that?"

"No, of course not," Scott immediately said at him.

"And what if he makes it so you have no choice Scott?" Stiles said back. "Like I said, it's a deal with the Devil. The guy never deals half way."

"I won't let that happen Stiles."

"Wait," Isaac said cutting in. "I feel like I'm missing something here. I mean, Scott's becoming an Alpha, yeah, so I could see why he wants Scott. But, why would Deucalion even care about you Stiles?"

Stiles looked over at Isaac who was looking back at him confused and saw that even Allison narrowing her eyes at him. Stiles shouldn't be surprised that Isaac knew given that he was staying with Scott now, but was shocked to see that Allison knew about Scott becoming an Alpha even though the two weren't dating anymore. But it seemed that Isaac and Allison didn't know about him, and he wanted to keep it that way. The last thing he needed was for Allison and her father to find out about this. He didn't want to think about what they would do if they learned that he was turning into something that so closely tied to their family's hunting past.

"Because he's a psycho, do you need any other reason," Stiles just shrugged off before looking back at Scott who was narrowing his eyes a bit. Stiles widened his eyes as he mind mentally screamed at Scott to not to tell them the truth, especially Allison.

Scott seemed to understand though. "Stiles, I get that you're scared but it won't get that far." Scott could feel Stiles' fear, of both Deucalion and of Allison too. He never told Isaac or Allison about Stiles becoming a Beast because he felt that wasn't his to share but he didn't think that now was a time for secrets amongst them. Besides, he felt that both Allison and her father have already proven themselves. They weren't going to try and hurt any of them anymore. "I won't let it. You're going to have to trust me though."

Stiles let out a hard upward puff at the fringes of his hair. "I do trust you Scott, it's _them_ I don't trust." It was clear he was talking about more than Deucalion and his pack.

Allison looked over at Deaton. "He trusts you more than anyone. Tell him, he's wrong," she told him as she thought that they were only talking about the Alphas and secretly not about her as well.

But Deaton just eyed Scott and saw his resolve. "I'm not so sure that he is," to the surprise of everyone in the room. "Circumstances like this sometimes forces you to ally with people you normally consider to be enemies," he tried to explain. He also caught Stiles' eye for a moment.

"So we're going to trust him?" Isaac dully asked. "The guy who calls himself 'Death, Destroyer of Worlds', we're going to trust _that_ guy?"

"I wouldn't trust him, no," Deaton said to him. "But, you could use him to your advantage."

"Use him?" Stiles quickly asked. "What you mean like how he's clearly trying to use Scott?"

Deaton nodded. "Use his own tactics against him. Jennifer, no doubt, is keeping close watch on your parents. Deucalion could be the bait you need to draw her away from them."

"And she could be the bait to draw him from Stiles," Scott mumbled. Scott knew that Deucalion already thought that he had him in his grasp, but only because he thought he was the only hope he had in finding his mother and the others. Deucalion probably didn't count on them going this far to try and find out where they had to go to save their parents without him. That meant he had an ace up his sleeve, one he could use to save not just their parents from Jennifer but Stiles from Deucalion too.

Stiles caught his eye. He could already see that Scott was already forming a plan in his head. Well, he just hoped it was one that didn't involve helping Deucalion too much against Jennifer. Stiles was thinking that if they could use Deucalion then maybe they could also use Jennifer and have the both of them help take care of both of their problems for them. If one of them was left…Stiles would step in and do what he had to do. But, after they saved their parents.

"As for you Stiles, there is something for you to keep in mind if any of this can happen the way we want it to," Deaton said to him.

Stiles straightened himself up. "What is it?"

But before anything else could be said, the bell at the front door of the clinic rang. They all stilled as they heard the sound of someone walking in through the door. Deaton looked at them before he moved over to see who it was. All the wolves reached out and picked up the scent of how walked in. They narrowed their eyes when they heard him speak.

"I'm looking for Lydia," Ethan said to Deaton.

Lydia walked off to stand next to Deaton but Scott and Stiles moved to stand protectively behind her. "What do you want?" she asked him.

Ethan looked over at her softly. "I need your help."

"With what?" Stiles asked him suspiciously.

Ethan's posture didn't change from the aggressive tone he was just given. He looked over at Stiles with the same look he had given Lydia. "Stopping my brother and Kali. From killing Derek."

* * *

Derek was leaning against the wall, lightly sipping some water from a bottle. A bottle that was being held up by his now fully healed Cora. The color was back in her face and her breathing was normal.

"You're okay," Derek gasped as he fully focused on his sister.

Cora could feel his relief and happiness at the fact and that made her smile. Stiles had told her that Derek wouldn't let anything take her away from him again and he had gone and actually given up his status as an Alpha all for her. He was right, and Cora was glad he was. "I'm doing a lot better than you are right now," she teased him. "All because of you."

Derek lightly watched his sister, relief filling his very being but there was one werewolf in the room that wasn't as ecstatic as they were.

"Hopefully not all for nothing," Peter slurred out. "The full moon is rising Derek. You drained your battery all the way to red and there is a fully charged Alpha on her way to rip you limb from limb. Not to mention that Deucalion is also out there ready to track and hunt a Beast just a few tugs away from snapping free of his bindings."

"I'll be fine in a few hours. Then I'll take care of them."

"I sincerely hope so, because a few hours is all you have," he told him sternly.

Derek narrowed his eyes at him. "It's all I'll need."

* * *

In the root cellar, the three parents were sitting in a tense silence that was finally broken when Chris Argent moved to check on the emitter.

"Still working?" Melissa asked him.

"Yeah," he told her as he put it down. "Not for much longer."

Melissa let out a frustrated breath. "Anyone else have an unbearable itch they can't scratch?"

The Sheriff tilted his head a bit. "Well…not before you said something but now, yes I do." He then let a small smile loose at her which got her to smile a bit too.

But it didn't last long. Melissa felt a cold feeling spread from her heart that went up her throat. "Is she actually going to come down here and slash all of our throats?"

Stilinski shook his head. "Nah. She'll come down here, strangle us with a garrote and then slash our throats."

Argent almost rolled his eyes. This man was definitely Stiles' father. At the thought of the wild but smart young werewolf he cleared his throat. "If she did, then it would be the biggest mistake she ever made," he said making the two of them look over at him. He caught the Sheriff's eye. "Your son, you saw how my men were like after he got his claws on them and he held himself back. With her, if she killed either of you, he won't." He then looked over at Melissa. "Perhaps Scott wouldn't either." But he was caught off when there was some shaking above them and dust started to fall which made Melissa get panicked. "It's just the wind," he said to calm her.

But them it picked up harder and the cellar started to shake down to its very foundation making the three of them fully panicked.

* * *

Ethan and Lydia went off together for Derek's loft. He claimed that he wanted to help stop his brother and Kali. When Stiles asked him why he wanted to help them now, Ethan said that he already lost someone he cared about because of all of this, he didn't want to lose more. Scott realized that he was talking about Ennis and what Morrell had revealed about his death. A truth that Deaton had verified for everyone there. Not everyone, namely Stiles and Isaac, liked it but it was agreed that if he could help in any way, then they could use it.

When Lydia stepped through the loft doors with Ethan, needless to say, the Hales were even less than willing to trust him than the others were. Lydia argued that they should at least hear him out and listen to what he had to say first.

"We know about the lunar eclipse," Ethan told them. "So don't think that Kali is just going to wait for it to level the playing field. She's coming and my brother is coming with her."

Peter shrugged. "That's good enough for me. Derek?"

Derek glared at Ethan as he answered his uncle. "You want me to run?"

"No," Peter said as he started to move for him. "I want you to stay and get slaughtered by an Alpha with a psychotic foot fetish," he said in calm sarcasm before he exploded. "Of course I want you to run! Sprint, gallop, leap your way out of this town."

Cora narrowed her eyes towards her brother. "You're still a little out of it Derek. If you're willing to fight and die for something, that's fine with me. But do it for something meaningful. Not just to prove you have balls to stand up to Kali." Cora wanted to stop her too, all the Alphas for what they put her through and what they planned to do to the others who helped to save both her and her brother. But, both she and her brother were still a little too weak to put up much of a fight against any one of them let alone Alphas like these.

"How do you know I'm going to lose?" Derek challenged her.

"We don't," Peter said before he looked away from his nephew to Lydia. "But I bet she has an idea. Don't you Lydia?"

"I don't know anything," she said nervously as Peter paced towards her.

"But you feel something, don't you?" he pressed.

Derek looked over at her. "What do you feel?"

"Uh…I feel…like I'm standing in a graveyard."

That freaked all three of the Hales out.

Derek then let out a breath in surrender. He turned to look at his sister. "We're leaving."

It wasn't long before Derek and Cora were in the van but Peter wasn't. He claimed that he would stick around and carefully watch over everything. "Don't call until you're a hundred miles away," he instructed them. Derek and Cora gave him a mild glare but he just glared back at them. "Go!"

Derek let a huff of air out but put the car gear shift in drive and began to pull them out.

* * *

Ethan had told Scott and the others that Deucalion would most likely be close by watching as Kali tried to hunt down Derek alongside Aiden. That meant that there would be some time before would turn his attention towards both Jennifer and Stiles. Time that they would use track down their parents at the cellar by the Nemeton. Scott, Stiles and Allison knew of the area of where the Nemeton was but not the exact location. They decided that they would go there and try to track down their scents before the eclipse started and drained them of their powers. First, they needed to get their scents.

Stiles was driving home to get something for Scott and Isaac with his dad's scent for them while they were going off for something with Allison's dad scent on it. They didn't have to worry about Scott's mom because the three of them already knew her scent. Stiles got to his house and dashed up for his dad's room with his phone at his ear as he called Scott.

"I'm here," Stiles told him.

" _Yeah_ ," Scott said. " _We're walking into the elevator now. We'll grab something with Allison's dad scent and bring it to the meeting spot. You grab something of your dad's._ "

Stiles then moved into his dad's room and froze. "Yeah…what do you think I should take?"

" _Just grab anything,_ " Scott said to him.

Stiles' eyes went to his dad's hamper and saw what was on the top. "Okay, I got his boxers."

" _Stiles,_ " Scott cut in. " _I'm not smelling your dad's boxers._ "

Stiles then looked down at what was underneath those. "How about his socks?"

" _Socks…okay I'll smell the socks,_ " his friend conceded.

"Alright, I'll see you guys soon." Stiles then hung up and then pocketed his dad's socks.

Stiles was beginning to walk out of the room when he passed by the window where the light from the full moon was pouring in as the cloud cover around it started to lift. The light hit his body and Stiles eyes sprang wide open and he fell to one knee. His chest suddenly felt tight as his heart burned as if it was bumping lava instead of blood. Stiles was gasping as his eyes shut in pain and started to water. The heat pumped from his heart and went to the top of his head and spread to his eyes making him open them to show that they let out a flash of soft gold light. Stiles went to wipe at his eyes when he felt that his hand felt rougher than usual. He brought his hand out to see that it was swelling up. It was bulging and his finger claws were starting to extend out, longer than he was used to.

"No," Stiles grunted and started shaking his head. "Not yet. Don't shift. Don't shift." Stiles was seeing that he had downplayed how serious this was going to be.

Deaton had pulled Stiles aside and privately warned him that all of these recent events would've greatly agitated his inner wolf. It seemed that this full moon would make his full power claw to the surface. When it did, an Alpha as powerful and in tuned such as Deucalion would sense when it did and he would move to kill him and take his power. Deaton said that he had to hold the Beast back as long as he could but that it wouldn't be easy. At the time, Stiles was confident he could hold it back, now, not so much.

Stiles grit his teeth as he thought on his father and how he had to focus and save him, Melissa…and even Argent. He thought on Scott and how, even though he didn't agree with his plan, he knew that Scott was truly just trying to save their parents and wanted to try and save him. And he thought of Lydia, and how she risked herself to keep himself grounded and in control with no fear for herself but concern for him and for everyone else. He found his hand starting to shrink and go back to normal and the aches and pains he was feeling inside begin to settle. Stiles was now panting a bit as he wiped at his mouth and forced himself to his feet.

He had managed to hold the Beast back but it wouldn't stay at bay forever. He had to hurry. There wasn't much time, for their parents, and even for him.

* * *

Allison opened the door to her apartment as Scott and Isaac followed behind her.

"What about me?" Isaac asked her.

"See what you can find in my dad's closet. Anything with a strong scent," she told him as she moved to the office to grab some weapons and arm up.

She opened the door but she froze in mid-step as she saw that there were people in her dad's office. Two of them cops and there was a third one sitting at his desk. On the desk were their weapons, spread out into the open.

"Quite an arsenal your father's got here young lady," the man sitting at the desk said to her. Allison wondered just who he was but didn't get much time to wonder as Scott stepped up behind her into view. At the sight of him, the man stood up and he and Scott looked tense eyes with each other. "Scott," he said simply.

Scott had his eyes narrowed on the man that he hadn't laid on eyes in years. Though Stiles did tell him that his dad was in town, it was still mind-blowing that he was actually standing there in front of him. Not that Scott was happy about it. "What are you doing here?" he asked him near harshly.

"Following one of the only leads I have," he said. "And since I don't know where you've been why don't you have a seat and we'll talk. You too Isaac!" he said raising his voice a tad higher.

Isaac stepped out from around the corner to look into the room. "How do you know my name?"

"Your name is one of the few things I know. To be honest the rest of what's going on here has me stumbling in the dark. Digging around for the smallest clue."

Scott kept the hard expression stuck on his face as he stepped inside. "If you're trying to tell me that you don't have a clue I learned that a long time ago."

Scott's father just put his hands on his hips as he narrowed his eyes at Scott. "I'm really hoping to avoid the embarrassment of dragging my own son into an interrogation room. Really hoping."

Scott's glare intensified as he moved for one of the chairs in front of the desk. "Of course, wouldn't want to do anything to put a smudge on your career. It's practically your whole life," he said as he dropped himself into the chair.

Agent McCall's jaw tightened a bit at that as Allison went and followed Scott's lead and sat in the other chair in front the desk while Isaac brought the small table sitting at the side and moved it to be in between them before he sat on it so that all three of them were facing him. He then looked at his son first. "I popped on over to the house last night, you weren't there." He then looked over at Isaac. "And I've come to learn that you've been staying with them but I didn't see you there either. Where were you two?"

"We were with Stiles," Scott muttered out. "Figured that he could use some support given that his father is missing."

"Really? You were at Stiles' place?"

Scott narrowed his eyes. He knew his father was trying to catch him in a lie and they couldn't afford for him to hold them on one if they were going to be out in the woods before the eclipse. "No, we were at Deaton's, because he's staying there while his dad's missing."

"Not just his dad, isn't that right Allison?" he asked looking to the girl in question. "It seems that your father has recently become unreachable. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Allison just silently stared back at him. Agent McCall then went to put his hands on his hips. "As I understand it, your family has had quite a hard time recently. What with the recent health downslide of your grandfather Gerard following the suicide of your mother Victoria. And, of course, the post mortem charges of homicide, fraud and extortion of your aunt Kate."

"That has nothing to do with anything," Scott quickly and angrily spat out at his father.

His father was actually taken aback by it. "Oh, I'm surprised Scott. From what I gather, you and Allison actually used to be quite the item around the high school, at least until you broke up after that mess with her aunt and your best friend."

That only made Scott glare deeper at his father. "Don't talk like you know what's going on in my life." He thought his dad had some nerve to talk as if he both cared and understood exactly about what was going on in Scott's life as if he knew exactly what was going on in it.

"I know more than you might think," his father said as he caught his eye. "Like the fact that your mother is missing as well. From what I saw, she never made it home last night and no one has seen her since the evacuation at the hospital. I'm not going to lie, I'm more than a little disturbed. Not only by the number of missing parents, but the fact that it's Stiles' father, your father," he said pointing to Allison before pointing to Scott. "And now your mother."

Scott and Allison just stared quietly at him while Isaac went and popped a mint in his mouth.

"Mine are both dead," he shrugged to Scott's dad.

That made the man glare at him. "Save the cliché teenage apathy for your high school teachers, the three of you know more than you're saying and I'm fully willing to keep you here all night if I have to."

Scott bit back some unease that was starting to rise within him. They couldn't stay here all night. Quite frankly, they weren't supposed to be here at all. They were supposed to be on the road already to meet back up with Stiles in the woods to find the Nemeton. Scott was weighing some options when his eyes fell on some flash bolt arrow heads left on the table. He looked over at Allison who looked back at him with the same urgent discomfort he had been feeling. Scott made a move with his fingers on the armrest that made her eyes move to the table, towards the weapons which made her narrow her eyes as she got what he was silently suggesting.

Scott then looked back over at his father and shook his head. "You can't keep us here."

"He's right," Allison cut in. "Not without some kind of warrant."

Agent McCall just looked at the arsenal spread about in front of him. "I have a desk full of probable cause."

Allison then went and stood up. "My father is a highly respected private security consultant and federally licensed firearms dealer. That means he has to own a few weapons."

"Formerly highly respected," Agent McCall cut in. "Given that he recently has been put under investigation. Given the rash of individuals who were brought in a few months ago, with violent and questionable histories that were found armed with high caliber weapons that seemed connected to the string of animal attacks early this year, and later were found dead. Much like your late aunt." Allison jaw tightened. Scott's face fell a little at that as well but his father kept his gaze on Allison. "Your father is currently under suspicion as a possible collaborator and conspirator in their activities. You didn't know that Allison? Or the fact that it actually was being overseen by Sheriff Stilinski, whom was the first one missing, at the high school, where your father was reportedly last seen. So again, probable cause. Besides, what I see here goes far beyond what I would deem fit for security."

"Really…and you understand everything that is on this table Mr. McCall?" She then pointed out to a crossbow. "Like this 150 pound draw tactical crossbow? Or this carbon steel combat knife?" she said pointing to a sheathed blade. Then pointed to a handgun. ".58 Desert Eagle." She then reached for a metal canister. "Smoke grenade with a pull ring igniter." She then pulled the pin on the grenade and threw it at McCall's feet.

The grenade suddenly let out a large quantity of smoke that started to quickly fill the room. Scott, Isaac and Allison then ran out of the room. Scott's dad yelled out for them to stop but it did little to stop them from bursting out of the apartment.

* * *

Kali and Aiden burst into the loft which was filled with the loud buzzing of the Hales' alert system. However, standing in wait for them weren't the Hales, but Ethan and Lydia who were standing calmly by the window.

Kali gave them a glare before she went to the sound box on the wall and ripped it out to stop it from buzzing. "Where is he?" she asked them.

Lydia snapped her fingers before looking over at Ethan. "I think he said that he was heading out to do some shopping? Or a few errands? You know, the usual…werewolf afternoon."

Kali wasn't amused. "Who do you think you're talking to," she said as she paced towards them.

Lydia's eyes went down to her bare feet sporting sharp claws on each toe. That only made Lydia fold her arms as she wasn't backing down from her. "Someone in desperate need of a pedicure. I'd be happy to give you a referral."

Kali just looked at her, ready to maul and rip the girl to pieces but she heard a deep howling, behind her. Aiden could sense what Kali wanted to do and he wasn't having it.

Kali just turned to look at him. "Oh really?" she said in a mix of anger and amusement at the thought that Aiden was ready to challenge her over Lydia. She moved to pace around the boy. "Did someone take their little assignment too seriously?"

Aiden looked over at Lydia who was staring blankly back at him. "She's not the problem," he growled over at Kali.

Kali stopped pacing around him when she found herself in front of his face. "Maybe the problem is where your loyalties lie."

"Oh god," Lydia muttered. "Is this about to get really violent?" she asked Ethan.

"Probably," he said not tearing his eyes away from his brother and Kali.

But before anything could be done among them, there was a loud bang as the glass ceiling above them cracked as something crashed through. Ethan grabbed Lydia to move her safely to the side as the shape landed in the center of the loft. It was Jennifer.

She immediately had her sights locked on Kali. "So, who wants to go first?"

At that moment, Kali forgot all about Aiden, Ethan, Lydia and even Derek. All she wanted right now was to tear Jennifer apart just as much as she wanted to tear Kali apart. Kali charged at Jennifer and threw clawed kicks her way but Jennifer quickly ducked and avoided them one after the other. Kali tried to grab at her with her hand but Jennifer pushed it away and then pushed Kali away with a burst of supernatural power. Kali flew through the air for a corner of the loft. Aiden then stepped up to challenge Jennifer and swiped at her but Jennifer blocked his blows and threw him off to the side in the same manner that she did Kali. Seeing his brother thrown away made Ethan leap into action. He tore off his shirt and roared a signal to his brother. Aiden tore of his shirt and stood up to meet his brother so that they could fuse themselves together. Jennifer moved in and grabbed them before they could. She tore at them and pushed them before they could begin to completely fuse together and threw them both at opposite sides of the loft.

Jennifer's eyes were then drawn to Kali who went and got back to her feet. The female Alpha stared hard at her as Jennifer glared back.

"That's right Kali, look at me," Jennifer spat. "Look at my face. Do you know what it takes to look like this? To be able to look normal?"

But Kali just laughed at her. "I don't care."

Jennifer kept glaring at her. "It takes, power. Power like this." Jennifer then extended her hands out and the glass on either side of her started to shake. It shook before it started to fly off from the ground and surround her. Above Jennifer, the skies started to darken as glowing clouds seemed to form above her to further emphasize her own power.

Kali just stared wide eyed at the display. "I should've…I should've…I should've ripped your head off!" she roared out at her.

Jennifer let out a angered scream as she then had the glass shards fly for Kali and cut into her. Lydia gasped as she saw Kali impaled in multiple places by the shards before she finally fell to the ground and laid there motionless. Jennifer then turned to look at her. Lydia became scared at both what she had just seen and at the way that Jennifer was looking at her.

However, Jennifer didn't seem to notice that the twins had found their way back to each other and had fused themselves together into their joint form. She did though when they howled at her. They stomped for her and moved to try and rip her apart but Jennifer ducked from their assault and moved for his back. She then grabbed their head from behind and snapped their neck. The giant hulking Alpha then fell face first into the ground, as motionless as Kali was. The sight of them made Lydia even more horrified.

"What's the line Coach likes to say?" Jennifer asked her with a smile as she was indifferent to the girl's horror. "The bigger they are-"

Lydia started to back away frantically as Jennifer slowly advanced towards her. Lydia was then forced backed into a pillar with no where to move now. "What do you want from me?" she cried out in a small voice.

Jennifer just sneered at her. "I want you to do what you do best Lydia. I want you to scream." Jennifer then let her face momentarily morph into the scratched up monstrosity that all of them had placed on the Darach and Lydia let out a high pitched scream that seemed to cause the sky above them to further react.

* * *

Derek was reaching the interstate that would soon take them straight out of Beacon Hills when a high pitched scream rang in both his and Cora's ears. It forced him to stop the car on the side of the road.

"What the hell was that?" Cora breathed out.

"Lydia," Derek gasped out. "We have go back." Derek then moved to turn the car around and race back to the loft.

* * *

Stiles was driving off for the woods to go and meet up with the others. He was gritting his teeth as his insides kept shifting around and the heat kept rising and falling every other second. His eyes went over to the full moon shining down on him. His breathing quickened at the sight and he turned back to the steering wheel where he saw that his hand was growing claws at the end and even seemed to get bulgy. But he shook his hand to try and make stop and shift back to normal before he went and gave his head a good shake as he tried to keep focused on the road. He had to fight the shift as long as possible. He couldn't risk Deucalion sensing the change and coming after him before he and Jennifer duked it out.

Stiles' eyes then widened. Up ahead looked like a storm cloud with lights flashing within it. Only, this cloud wasn't in the sky, it was in the road ahead. Stiles blinked his eyes and the cloud vanished. He wondered if what he saw was actually there or was the full moon playing tricks on him. Either way, he didn't slow down.

* * *

The moon was full and bright in the night sky with many people watching it in anticipation for the lunar eclipse. Some had telescopes and cameras set up so that they could capture this rare astrological sight. Most of those people in Beacon Hills had no idea of the supernatural ramifications that the next few hours would have on the town. If they had, they wouldn't have gotten so excited when the Earth's shadow started to entrap the full moon.

* * *

Stiles made it into the roads by the woods as he was getting closer to the meeting place. But his ears twitched as he heard what seemed to be a pinging sound. One that didn't sound like one of the normal sounds of the woods. It was like a weird mix of a whistle and nails scratching a chalkboard. Now that he thought about it, Scott said that was how Argent's emitters sounded like when they used them to try and corral Cora and Boyd back at the school that night. He had to be behind this. The hunter must've set it off to try and signal them to let them know where he and the others were knowing only they could hear it. He then stopped the jeep and moved the car into a different path to instead head for that noise. It sounded a little distant, no doubt because the eclipse was starting and his powers were starting to leave him. Though, on the plus side, the burning and grinding feeling he was having inside him seemed to have vanished for the moment. He guessed he had until the end of the eclipse before he had to worry about it again.

As he drove the path ahead started to get fuzzy as some kind of fog or cloud cover was moving in cutting his visibility a little. Stiles tried to keep going when a hard rush of wind started blowing a bunch of dust and leaves right at his windshield.

"Oh come on," he begged as he kept trying to drive though.

But the next thing Stiles knew, his Jeep went head first into a tree. Stiles head flew forward and slammed hard against the window before he fell back into his seat. A big bloody gash was at the side of his head and while it started to heal, the healing started to slow in progress as the moon began to get darker. Stiles blinked his eyes as he tried to move through the pain but his vision started getting dark and his body gave out. Outside the wrecked car, the dust storm seemed to surround and encircle it as it sparked from within with supernatural energy.


	23. Lunar Eclipse part 2

Chapter 23: Lunar Eclipse part 2

Scott was on his motorcycle riding alongside Allison's car as she was driving herself and Isaac into the woods. When they got out of the building, they didn't spare any moment to talk about what had just happened. They just went for the car and bike and just took off. Scott skidded his bike to a stop and Allison stopped the car when they reached the meeting point.

"You okay?" Allison asked as soon as she stepped out of the car.

"I didn't know what to say to him. I couldn't come up with anything but, what you did, it was awesome," he laughed out.

But Isaac came over to them with a sour look on his face as he looked down at his phone. "I still haven't got anything back from Stiles, you?" he asked sobering Scott up.

He checked his phone and saw that there was nothing from Stiles with him either. "I don't get it."

"Alright, well, we can't wait for him. Come on."

Isaac then took off into the woods and Allison was right behind him. Scott just stared at his phone and looked at the blank and dark road. He didn't understand, they had been delayed but somehow got their first? Scott tried to sniff for Stiles' scent but he couldn't pick it up. Actually, he couldn't pick up anything beyond the surrounding trees. He then looked up and saw that the eclipse had begun. They were beginning to lose their powers…and when the moon was fully darkened, they would be completely without them.

The three of them went to the overlook where they saw that there seemed to be a storm approaching from a distance.

"Cutting it a little close, aren't you Scott?"

They turned around and saw Deucalion beginning to walk out towards them, by himself.

"We got a little delayed," Scott tried to explain to him. "Where are the others?"

"Occupying themselves with…other pursuits."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "So, it's just you and me against her?"

"Oh, I think you'd be surprised what a good team we'd make." He then tilted his head. "Curious though…I would've expected there to be someone else with you. Where's your little friend Stiles?"

Scott's jaw tightened a bit. "Occupying himself with other pursuits," he said back at him.

That made Deucalion let out a small amused chuckle. "Come now Scott, you think that putting a little distance between the two of us will stop what's to come? You're smarter than that, despite what others might say."

Scott glared a bit at him before he looked over and leaned in close to Isaac. "Look, find Stiles and get to the root cellar. We'll keep Jennifer away long enough for you to get them out of there."

"How are you going to do that?" Isaac asked him.

"I have a plan."

Deucalion's back was turned to them as he looked out in the forest. His own powers were starting to wane due to the eclipse. But he was still able to pick up the scents in a good radius from where he was. Not too far from them, he could smell fresh blood, and the scent of a werewolf. That must be Stiles, but, he curiously picked up another scent. Something that smelled much like…actually, he didn't know if he actually could describe the scent. It was as if it was nothing, but was still something. It wasn't like anything he had ever encountered before. But, he put his glasses on. He couldn't let himself get distracted. Not when he was so close to achieving the perfection he craved for.

* * *

Derek and Cora quickly got back to the loft and then rushed on inside as they could smell a lot of fresh blood inside. They yanked the door open and froze at the sight. On the floor laid Kali, dead. Her body skewered with many shards of glass. Not too far away laid the Twins, in their fused form, motionless. In the center of the room stood Jennifer, completely calm and at ease. Lydia was crutched down in a corner, whimpering as she let loose tears of terror. Cora ran over to her while Derek stayed and stared Jennifer down.

"You did this, for me?" Derek asked her.

"I did this for us," she said taking a step towards him. "For anyone who's ever been their victim."

But Derek lost it and began to bare down on her. "Stop talking to me like a politician! Stop trying to convince me of your cause!"

"Fine!" she spat back. "I convince you of someone else's. Scott." That made him stop but still glare at her. "You can save his mother, Stiles' father."

"How?!" he cut in.

"I need a guardian. That's a role that could be filled in by the three parents I was forced to take, or by you."

"I can't help you. I'm not even an Alpha anymore."

"All I need is for you to help me get Deucalion in the right place at the right time."

"You just killed three of them on your own," he said giving Kali and the Twins' bodies another look. "What do you need me for?"

"You haven't seen Deucalion at his strongest. I have and if he has Scott with him then I don't stand a chance."

"Derek, don't trust her," Cora spat at him.

But Cora turned to look over at her. "Actually, you should really be pushing for your brother to trust me Cora. Especially if you want Stiles to live after today," she said giving her a pointed look.

"What are you talking about?" Lydia asked in a low voice.

"I'm sure you saw it Lydia. I felt it. Yesterday afternoon when you helped keep Stiles from shifting against his will. His power is almost to the surface. The Beast is about to emerge. Right now, the eclipse is keeping it back but when it ends, the Beast in Stiles _will_ be unleashed. And Deucalion will move in to take his chance and ascend from a Demon Wolf to the Devil. If we don't stop him before then, _none_ of us will stand a chance." She then looked at Derek. "The eclipse will work in my favor but the moon will only be fully immersed in Earth's shadow for fifteen minutes. That's the extent of my window. If you want to save the parents, Stiles and Scott, then you'll help me."

Derek turned to look from Jennifer to his sister and Lydia, who were looking at him with bated breath. He hated to admit it, but Jennifer had a point. He looked back at Jennifer and lowered his gaze submissively. Cora watched as her brother took off with her leaving the two of them alone with the bodies.

Cora moved to get Lydia to stand up with her. "Okay, Lydia come on. We have to go and get help."

"From who?" she cried out.

Cora found herself about to cry as well. "I don't know but we can't stay here." But before they could leave they heard movement behind them. The two girls looked back and saw that the Twins had separated into two again. They ran over to them with Lydia going to Aiden and Cora going to Ethan. Cora dimming senses were able to pick up a heartbeat from the two of them. "They're alive," she realized.

Lydia then looked over at her. "I know where we have to go then."

* * *

The weather in the woods was getting worse. The wind was blowing harder and the moon's light was beginning to dim as it became more shrouded in shadow. Allison and Isaac were trudging through this bad weather and heading deeper into the woods.

"Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" he finally asked her after fifteen minutes.

"I know we're near it," she said as she didn't stop. "Can you pick up a scent?"

Isaac shook his head. "I'm trying but I-" He froze. "I hear something…it's an emitter. One of your dad's."

"Are you sure?" Allison asked him desperately.

"It has to be," he said before grabbing her hand and running off with her towards it. The sound was faint and knew that there wasn't much time before he lost track of it when the eclipse was complete.

They ran, through the wind, trees and lightning with Isaac trying to hold on to the sound of the emitter. Their eyes widened when they spotted it dead ahead. The tree stump. The Nemeton.

"Okay," Allison said through the storm. "The cellar has to be around here."

Isaac looked around and spotted the doors. "Allison," he said as he pointed it out to her.

They ran over and pulled the doors open, and then jumped on in. However, the ground near them was starting to break apart. Allison got to the bottom landing where she quickly found her father tied to the support beam right next to her. Isaac's eyes were drawn to him and then to Melissa and the Sheriff tied not too far away. He ran to Melissa while Allison went to her father.

"Oh thank god," she cried as she dropped down next to him.

He smiled as she knelt in front of him. "You found us," he said in a small but content tone.

"Where's Stiles?" The Sherriff quickly asked them. "Where's my son?"

"And Scott?" Melissa cried out.

"They're coming," Isaac told them as he tried to get the ropes off Melissa. He would've used his claws to cut them apart but he couldn't bring them out. The eclipse was close to being complete and most of his power had been tapped. "They're on their way to help." But them the roof fully caved in and dirt and rocks started to quickly pour into the cellar. Outside, the wind picked up and the storm got even worse. They then pulled on the ropes faster and soon they were all coming loose. "Hurry!" Isaac yelled out as more of the cellar was caving in.

"Let's go!" Chris said as he got to his feet.

"I'm out," Melissa said as she got the last of the ropes off of her.

"Alright, let's get out of here!" The sheriff cried out.

Yet before they could move any further, the stairs fully collapsed cutting off their only way to escape.

* * *

Scott and Deucalion were slowly approaching the distillery that Gerard had told Scott about. The one where Derek had taken Paige and where Gerard and Deucalion went for their failed peace talks. Scott could see the spiral for vendetta still carved into the steel wall.

"You said you had a plan?" Deucalion calmly asked him.

"My first day in class, Jennifer sent all of us a message. It was the last line of Joseph Conrad's _Heart of Darkness_. I have a message of my own to send."

Jennifer was making her way into the woods with Derek alongside her as they were moving for the Nemeton. Jennifer checked her phone and brought up a countdown she made until the moon would be fully eclipsed when she got a video message. She narrowed her eyes when she saw that it was from Scott. She then moved to open it and found herself staring at a spiral.

"You see this symbol?" Scott's voice rang out drawing Derek to look at the image as well. "It's a symbol of revenge." Then Scott moved to be in the video. "You talk about balance, about saving people but we know what you really want. Now you know where to find us."

Jennifer's eyes became focused as Derek's eyes went solemn. He wondered just what Scott thought he was doing.

* * *

Cora pulled the van up to the clinic and helped with carrying both of the twins inside and putting them on the tables that Deaton had gotten ready when Lydia called him. Both of the Twins were motionless as blood slowly poured from their noses and mouths.

"Can you save them?" Cora asked Deaton. She was surprised that she was actually trying to save the Twins after everything that happened. But, right now, Jennifer was the threat. She took her brother and was trying to kill all the others, including Stiles and his father. If saving them worked against that witch then she would be happy to do it.

Deaton shook his head. "Only if they start healing on their own." He knew thought that with the eclipse almost complete, it would be all down to chance. Deaton was rushed off to do what he can to reset the Twins' broken necks and ready their bodies to heal.

Lydia looked down at Aiden's still form and began to pray that it would work out. Too many people were lost already, she didn't want to lose more.

* * *

The eclipse was over half way done as Scott and Deucalion were still waiting in the distillery for Jennifer to arrive. The only sounds they had for company were those of the wind hitting against the walls making it echo through the empty building. Then a shadow was forming through the fog blowing at the entrance. They watched as it then split to two. Jennifer and Derek then fully came to sight.

Scott's face fell seeing Derek standing with her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Derek caught Scott's eyes. "This may be hard to believe but, I'm actually trying to help you save your parents. And your best friend. What are _you_ doing?"

But Scott just stayed silent and didn't answer him.

"Oh, brother against brother," Deucalion said as he looked over at Scott. "How very…American." He then unfolded his walking stick. "Are you ready Jennifer?" He threw it to the side as he then started to take his jacket off. "Did you gather your herbs?" he asked mockingly. "Pray to your ancient gods and your oak trees? Slit a baby's throat perhaps?" He then started to advance towards her as his tone went harder. "Should we show them why you needed to sacrifice nine innocent people just to face me, or was it twelve?" Deucalion's whole face then shifted into a monstrous version of a werewolf then either Scott or Derek had ever come across before. His red eyes shined as they locked on to Jennifer.

* * *

Chris analyzed the staircase and saw no other way to get to the cellar door. But, even if they could, the door looked like it was underneath some debris too. "Blocked," he called out to everyone. He then looked over at Isaac who was on the other side of the cellar. "Anything."

But Isaac shook his head. But then the cellar started to crack even more. "Look out!" he yelled to Allison.

But Allison saw that a huge chunk of the roof was breaking apart above him. "Isaac!" she cried to him.

The sheriff ran over and pulled Isaac back and out of the way. But the shaking was making the cracks travel to where they were all huddled in cover as the support beams were starting to crack themselves. The cellar was fully collapsing. Isaac quickly moved to catch the support but couldn't shift to fully tap into his strength. Only his golden eyes became visible. The eclipse was too close to being complete at this point. He secretly didn't know how long he could hold it.

* * *

Deucalion charged for Jennifer but Derek intercepted him. He easily grabbed at Derek's throat but Jennifer moved in to send a burst of power at Deucalion, but it didn't seem to faze him. He just stayed standing firmly holding Derek before he turned to face Jennifer and then grabbed her throat with his other hand. He lifted the two of them up and laughed at the both of them. The two of them then broke free from his grip and dropped down to the ground. Derek got up first and moved to strike at the Alpha but Deucalion easily countered his blow and flipped him off into the air. Jennifer then moved to attack Deucalion but he struck her in the face. He then grabbed her by the throat and dragged her over to Scott who had been watching everything in shock.

"Kill her," Deucalion ordered him. "Do it." Scott just stood there, looking from him to her and Deucalion send a monstrous roar his way. The roar got to Scott and he fell to his knees and then lifted his head to show that he had now shifted. "Now kill her. The parents are dying. That storm you hear, she's burying them alive. It's her connection to the telluric currents. Kill her and it ends. You could save them."

"It won't end," she spat out. "As soon as I'm dead, he'll go and kill your best friend to take his power. He'll then go on and kill everyone you love, everyone that gets in his way. Even you Scott. He will betray you like he betrays everyone."

But Deucalion tightened his grip on her. "You want to save your mother Scott? Save the parents of your best friends. Then kill her and do it now, while there is still time. Become the Alpha that you're meant to be. Become a Killer."

But Scott remembered Deaton's words. Remembered why he was becoming an Alpha in the first place. He raised his eyes at Deucalion. "They're not dead yet."

"And who's going to save them? Your friends?" he asked mockingly.

Scott stood up. His eyes then flared up. "My pack," he said defiantly.

Deucalion then released Jennifer and quickly moved over to Scott and grabbed him by the back of his neck. He then grabbed his wrist and started to pull him forward. "Maybe, you just need a little guidance." He moved them so that they would be standing over Jennifer.

Scott gasped as he then looked over at the monster Alpha. "I forgot to tell you something. Something that Gerard told me. Deucalion isn't always blind." Scott's mind went back to when he had been in Argents' office and saw the flash bolts on the table during his interrogation with his father. When Allison had set off the gas grenade, he had grabbed one of them from the table and pocketed it. He now took it from his pocket and threw it down. The light flashed and Deucalion's infrared sight made the flash blinding.

However, at that moment, high in the sky, the moon became fully eclipsed. Now Scott face was normal and his claws were gone. He looked over and saw that Derek and Deucalion were normal as well.

"The eclipse," Deucalion cried out. "It started."

Scott then looked and saw that Jennifer was missing. "Oh no."

* * *

Stiles was laying motionless in the front seat of his wrecked jeep that was spewing steam from its wrecked engine. The cut on his head was still dripping blood as his breathing was faulting. The storm outside was worsening but there was also dark fog entombing his jeep. The hard winds weren't making it dispel or change course. It stayed encircling the Jeep as if it were the eye in a hurricane with the fading light of the moon shining down from above. Slowly but surely, the moon then became fully hidden by the Earth's shadow becoming fully eclipsed. The boy inside was now powerless; human.

Just then, within the dark fog, a fly emerged and flew its way into ruined hood of the jeep and made its way for the air conditioning vents. Soon, the inside of Stiles' jeep began to get filled with a faint buzzing sound. The fly pushed its way inside and then flew for the unconscious teen. Soon, the buzzing stopped and he started to stir. Stiles' eyes slowly started to open as he saw the raging winds tearing their way through the trees. He then grit his teeth and felt the pain shooting through his body. His eyes flew to the window and he saw that the moon was gone. The full eclipse had started and he was now without any of his werewolf powers, but he refused to be powerless. He then reached for the bag next to him and pulled out his back up plan. He stepped out into the woods and ran as hard as he could.

* * *

The rumbling intensified and the debris was falling into the cellar faster and harder than before.

"Is it me or is this place getting smaller?" Isaac cried out. The sheriff was now moving to hold the beam as Isaac's arms were giving out now that he was fully human and powerless again. "I can't hold it."

Allison, Chris and Melissa moved to try and help hold it up but it was still collapsing. It seemed like it would fully fall on them when suddenly a bat was moved for the center of it and held it up. Everyone looked up and saw that the hand attached to it was Stiles'.

The sheriff looked at his son and saw that he looked a little ragged, and had a cut on his head, but seemed okay. He then looked over and saw the bat that he had used to support the beam with. "I always said aluminum was better than wood."

That only made Stiles move to hug him. "Well, I knew that without my claws, I might need a little something extra," he chuckled out as he tightened his hold on his father.

But their reunion was cut short when another part of the roof started to collapse and let in debris. Stiles' father looked over at the bat holding the beam as it was now starting to shake in its place.

"That's not going to hold it for long. It's picking up."

"It has to be Jennifer," Allison cried out.

"Is there anything you two can do?" Melissa hurriedly asked them.

But Isaac shook his head. "No. We're both powerless."

"Until the eclipse ends," Chris yelled out. "It should only last for a few more minutes."

But then another part of the cellar started to crack up and debris began flooding in from a new spot forcing all of them to practically squeeze together.

"If we have that long," Stiles spat out.

* * *

Scott looked around for Jennifer and his eyes widened when he spotted her, but as a scratched up monstrosity. She was running for him and shrieked inhumanely as she took him and tossed him to the wall. She then went to attack Deucalion. She grabbed him and threw him to the floor where she then started to slam his head against the concrete floor to try and crack his head wide open. She then went and began to brutally beat him.

"Jennifer," Derek cried out making her stop and look at him. "He doesn't know."

"Know what?!" she shrieked at him.

Derek calmly stared at her hideous face. "What you really look like," he said to her softly. That made her look away from him and look down at Deucalion who was gasping in pain on the floor. "He knows the cost of bringing Kali into his pack but he's never seen the prices you paid."

Jennifer then looked back at him as she settled her breathing. "No," she gasped. "No he hasn't." She then knelt down and placed her hands over his eyes.

A moment later, Deucalion started screaming out in pain. It stopped when Jennifer removed her hand and Deucalion opened his eyes. He started blinking them as everything started coming into focus. For the first time in years, he could actually see. Truly see. Both Derek and Scott were looking out in shock at seeing Deucalion, for once, looking lost for words.

But Jennifer stayed resolute. "Turn to me," she said to him. Deucalion just kept looking out, taking in the fact that he now had his vision back. "Turn to me!" she screamed at him. That got Deucalion to slowly turn over to look at Jennifer's hideous face. His eyes widened and he blinked at Jennifer then reverted back to her unscarred self. He then moved to strike at him but she started to get light headed and began to lose her footing. Derek moved in to catch her before she could fall. "What is this?" she gasped.

"Healing him made you weak. Just like healing Cora did to me," he softly explained to her. "You'll have your strength back in just a few minutes."

"Then you do it," she said to him. "Kill him."

But Derek shook his head. "No."

Jennifer narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"It's like my mother used to say: I'm a predator, but I don't have to be a killer." He then moved to tighten his hold on her throat. His posture then turned hostile. "Let them go," he demanded.

But Jennifer moved and pushed Derek away. She then moved to attack him for a moment before she just looked pitiably at him. "Oh Derek," she muttered.

She then stepped away to head back for Deucalion but Derek ran for her again. Jennifer struck at him and kept striking at him ferociously. Derek began to feel a great amount of pain with every blow he took. It was reminiscent of the pain he suffered from Cora and Boyd during the full moon when they were lost in their shift and he was trying not to hurt them. Jennifer wasn't letting up in her assault this time. She wanted nothing to stop her from getting her revenge.

But, outside, the shadow began to pass over the moon and its light began to shine again. At that moment, Derek's head shot up and he caught her wrist. He then flashed his blue eyes at her making her gasp in surprise.

"Your fifteen minutes are up," he growled before he tossed her to the side.

Scott then got up as he felt his own power return and moved to try and stop Jennifer from trying to escape but she then threw mountain ash into the air before it fell into a circle around her.

"It's like I told you Derek, it's either you or the parents!" She then looked over at Scott. "I guess I'm just going to have to take them now. Them, and also your best friend. In a few minutes they'll all be dead and I won't even need a lunar eclipse to kill a Demon Wolf. Not to mention not have to worry about a Beast running around trying to hunt me down."

* * *

Over at the cellar, everyone was still huddled together as the wind outside seemed to blow harder. The bat holding the beam above them up was starting to bend.

"It's starting to give out," Melissa cried.

Chris went to embrace Allison as the Sheriff grabbed onto his own son. Melissa then went over and grabbed hold of Isaac as the rumbling started to get louder. But then moonlight started to pour into the dark cellar and reflected off some broken glass and shine its light on them.

Isaac gasped as he felt his strength begin to rush at him and his eyes let off their golden glow. Just then the bat fully bent and gave away and Isaac then broke free of Melissa's hold and then went to push on the beam to try and keep it up. Stiles broke free from his father and rushed to help him. However, the beam wasn't being raised any higher.

Isaac thought that was odd because surely the two of them together should be able to hold it steady. But it felt like Stiles was hardly helping at all. "What's wrong? Help me push it!" he said to him.

"I…I am," Stiles grunted through gritted teeth. "I'm trying!"

Stiles was pushing as hard as he could, but for some reason, he didn't feel any different. His arms felt like toothpicks and his insides felt as heavy as lead. He wasn't feeling like his old self.

* * *

Scott was glaring hard at Jennifer as she smirked at him. Scott knew that he just couldn't stand there. Not with their parents, Stiles, Allison and Isaac's lives in Jennifer's hands. He went and began to move for her. He could feel the invisible barrier of the mountain ash pushing on him.

"You tried this once before Scott. I don't remember you having much success," she smirked at him.

But Scott moved closer and started to begin forcing his way in. Blue light shined from his hands as he pushed harder and soon through his whole body. Scott stood his ground and kept trying to force his way through to try and get to her. Jennifer's face fell a bit as she watched as Scott's golden eyes shined at her as he kept fighting to get through. Both Derek and Deucalion were watching as Scott kept trying to get in. Scott's golden eyes then started to tint a bit before they fully turned into a bright red. When they did, Scott took a step inside making Jennifer gasp. Scott then took a second step and the blue light faded and the mountain ash line broke.

When the barrier collapsed, its force pushed Jennifer down to the ground as she stared up in shock at the young man. "How did you do that?" she gasped.

Scott just looked down at her sternly. "I'm an Alpha now," he declared out to everyone present. "Now, whatever you're doing to cause this storm, make it stop, or I'll kill you myself. I don't care what it does to the color of my eyes."

Jennifer just stayed there, staring up at Scott who was glaring down at her.

"It won't change the color of mine, so allow me!" Deucalion then pushed his way through and struck his claws directly through Jennifer's throat. She gasped and held her throat as blood splattered free. They all watched as her beautiful face fell away and she was back to her monstrous form. She let out a few whimpers before she fell lifelessly to the ground.

* * *

Over at the cellar, everyone was helping to push on the beam when the wind suddenly died and the pressure on their hands lessened. The roof seemed to stop caving in and everything around them settled.

"Is it over?" Melissa gasped out.

Isaac was breathing hard but was smiling. "Yeah, I think it is."

At that, the sheriff laughed and went to embrace Stiles who returned it fully, but he wasn't smiling. He looked a bit troubled. But he separated from his father when his phone started ringing. His eyes widened when he saw who was calling.

"Scott?" he quickly asked as he picked up.

"Hey, are you okay?" Scott quickly asked him.

"Yeah. I'm fine. We're all fine. You?"

Scott went and looked over at Derek who was looking a little sullen. "Sort of," he answered.

"Think you can come get us?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Great, okay but uh…bring a ladder."

That made his father, Melissa and Isaac let out small laughs while Chris and Allison just breath out in relief.

* * *

Over at the clinic, Ethan and Aiden's chest began to rise and fall normally and their eyes began to open as they looked up at the faces of Lydia, Cora and Deaton. Cora moved to help Ethan to sit up while Aiden just laid on the table staring up at Lydia.

"I knew," Aiden muttered as he rubbed on Lydia's hand.

"Knew what?" she asked.

He then smiled. "I knew you liked me."

He then grasped her hand as Lydia rolled her eyes and looked away from him. But, she was smiling too.

* * *

Deucalion was taking a moment to take in the fact that he could really see again. He was looking around at the place where he had lost his sight and couldn't help but think it was poetic that it would be where he got it back. He also saw that Derek and Scott were blocking the way out of the building and staring him down.

"My mother told me that you were a man of vision once." Derek then shared a hard look with Scott who looked back at him softly. That made Derek let out a heated breath. "We're letting you go because we hope you could be that man again."

"But, if you're not then having your eyesight back won't matter, because you'll never see us coming." Scott warned him. "Leave us and leave my friend Stiles alone."

With that, they both turned and left Deucalion to stare after them with narrowed eyes.

* * *

Scott and Derek pulled up close to the Nemeton in his car and they moved to get a ladder that they borrowed from Deaton to help the others. The skies were somewhat alight as the sun was close to rising but the full moon was still visible. They helped all of them leave the cellar one by one. Scott embraced his mother in a tight hug before he went to hug Stiles. As he hugged him, he narrowed his eyes as he felt that his friend wasn't returning it as hard.

"Stiles?" he said as he separated from him. "Something wrong dude?"

Stiles was looking down at his hands before looking up at Scott. "Scott, could you bring your claws out?"

Scott was taken aback by that. "What, why?"

"Just, please Scott," Stiles said to him softly.

Scott gave him a look of concern but nodded just the same and then freed the claws in his hands. "What's this about?"

"This." Stiles then brought out his hand in the same motion but nothing happened. "I can't bring out mine."

That made Scott and all the others turn to look at him.

"What do you mean?" Derek asked.

Stiles looked up at him. "I…I can't shift."

"What?" Scott asked narrowing his eyes in confusion.

Isaac then looked up at Stiles' forehead. "Stiles, the cut on your head. It's not healing."

Stiles went to wipe at his forehead and saw that the cut on his forehead was as inflamed as it was when he came to after his crash. "And I didn't get my strength back when the eclipse was over," he added in realization.

Scott shook his head before he then showed off his new red eyes to Stiles as he tried to heighten his senses and lock them on his friend. A moment later, Scott's face fell. "Stiles, your scent."

"What about my scent?" he asked.

"It's…different," Scott answered in confusion. "You don't smell like…you."

"No," Derek mumbled. "His scent is the same. It's just…less. Without the wolf."

"Wait," Stiles' dad said looking at each of them. "What are you trying to say? What's wrong with my son?"

Stiles looked at the palms of his hands for a moment before turning up to face them. "I lost my powers. I…I'm not a werewolf anymore."

The silence after that was deafening.

* * *

Chris was in his office, dismantling his guns and putting the weapons back into their cases. Allison was standing by the doorway with her arms folded, watching him do so.

"So, now what? Back to storage?" she asked him.

"That's the plan," he said putting his unloaded pistol into his molded place in the case.

"What if I've got a different plan?" she said making him turn to look at her. Allison then started to move into the room. "Deaton said that what we did to find you, that it might draw things here. That Beacon Hills will be made kind of a beacon again."

Her father looked away and moved to close the case. "I hope not."

"Well, I was thinking that maybe I should be prepared. Learn to be a better fighter; learn all the things that you could still teach me."

"And maybe a few things more?" he muttered.

She nodded but her eyes narrowed seriously at him. "But, we're going to have a new code."

She then chanted out in French and when she finished, Chris let a small grin come upon his face.

"We protect those that cannot protect themselves."

Chris was starting to believe that Allison would become a good leader, one that could re-establish the good name and grace of their family. He wouldn't admit it but he thinks its largely due to Scott McCall and the rest of his friends. Allison then walked out of the office to head for her room and he happily watched her go before his face fell when his mind went on to something else. To a development that one of those friends had presented. Stiles Stilinski. He wasn't a werewolf anymore. He had become human again, which was something that had never been seen or heard of except in legends and unreliable lore about werewolves. He especially wanted to stay and find out how that happened. For some reason, he didn't think that boded well, for the teen and maybe for all of them either.

* * *

Sheriff Stilinski moved for the distillery with a few of his deputies. He was going to try and collect the body of Jennifer Blake, exactly where Scott had told him that she was left at. It was the final thing to do so that they could wrap up this nightmare that had been plaguing his town. For the first time in a long time, he was feeling a sense of mental closure to everything that had been going on in this town since the deaths started. For now, he was able to rationalize the cause and reason why it all happened, even if it was still quite irrational to him.

He stepped on inside the distillery but froze when they found the place empty. There was nothing there but a few spots of dried blood that seemed to drip away and lead to the outside. The sheriff narrowed his eyes at it, wondering what this could mean, when he raised his head up and his eyes fell upon the stern face of Agent McCall. He then let a frustrated breath out.

* * *

Derek and Cora were moving out of the loft with the last of their things. They both turned and gave the place a final look before they closed the door and headed out. They headed out of the building and began to move for the car but froze when they saw Stiles standing there, apparently waiting for them.

Derek narrowed his eyes at him before turning over to his sister. "Don't take too long," he told her.

She nodded as she handed him her bag and he moved for the car. Stiles moved to head on over to Cora but shared a look with Derek as they passed each other. He couldn't tell if Derek was annoyed, angry, or just both. He went to stand in front of Cora who was looking back at him a bit blankly.

Stiles went and put his hands into his pockets. "Are you okay?" he asked her softly.

Cora nodded. "Mostly. I still have a bit of a headache and my stomach keeps turning a little from time to time but it's much better than how I was feeling when Jennifer did whatever she did to me."

He nodded. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. I was worried about you."

"Thanks. How's your dad?"

He tilted his head a bit. "Still kind of thrown by all of this. He's been asking me some questions. Actually, a lot of questions but they're ones I can answer for him now."

Cora's eyes then narrowed. "Except the one that you can't. That none of us can't."

Stiles gaze fell a bit. "How did I lose my powers?" he mumbled

"No sign of them at all?" she asked hesitantly. Stiles closed his eyes and shook his head. She could easily pick up how he was feeling. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks," he mumbled. "But hey, if it's what I have to deal with to have my father and everyone else back, then it's a small price to pay." He then cleared his throat. "So, you're really leaving?" he asked moving away from that topic.

She let out an exasperated gasp. "Yeah. When I came back to Beacon Hills, I was kind of hoping that it would feel like I was coming back home. But it's not."

"It could be, if you stayed and gave it a second chance."

"I did," she said to him in a near whisper. "This place…there's just too many bad memories here. Too much pain. It's not my home anymore."

Stiles nodded. "I get it." He could understand that. Cora lost her whole family here and had come back to only suffer more loss. More pain.

But Cora's face broke into a small smile. "I should thank you though."

Stiles raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Thank me? For what?"

"Thanks to you, I actually have at least some nice memories here."

Now Stiles smiled teasingly at her. "Just nice? I think our time together was a bit better than that."

That made Cora smile become teasing as well. "If it was then I think we know whose end had more to do with it?"

"Keep telling yourself that, and you might start to believe it," he laughed out a bit. That made Cora shake her head but laugh a little just the same as her cheekbones inflated and her smile widen. That made Stiles happily sober up as he calmly looked at her. "You have a real beautiful smile. I'm glad I got to see it at least once."

Cora sobered up but still kept her smile pasted on her. She then moved in closer and Stiles met her in a small kiss. One that had the both of them smiling into. It lasted for a moment before a horn went blaring and they broke apart to look at Derek, in the driver's seat, looking at them both through the open window with a bit of a annoyed glint in his eye.

"I better go," she said as she looked back at Stiles with a small smile still on her.

"Yeah." But before she could fully pull away, he moved in and gave her one quick, last peck on the lips before he let her go. Cora walked over to the car but turned and gave him one last quick wave which Stiles returned. She then stepped into the passenger seat of the car next to her brother. Stiles then looked over at Derek who gave him a bit of a stink eye before he went and put the car in drive and then they took off. Stiles watched them go with a teethy smile. "Oh…if Derek ends up coming back then I'm so dead," he mumbled to himself through his smile.

* * *

Scott was sitting in the animal clinic with Deaton as he thought of the fact that Derek was leaving today with his sister.

"I honestly don't know if he's ever going to come back. Part of me hopes so, but part of me hopes that he'll be okay, somewhere else," he jokingly added before he sobered up as he thought about what had happened before he had come here. How his father had knocked on his door and Scott answered it for a second before slamming it shut again. "My dad doesn't look like he'll be leaving for a while but just because he's staying, doesn't mean he's welcomed." He then thought on the latest thing to fall on their laps. "Then there's the thing that none of us could've expected happening."

Deaton nodded. "That Stiles apparently isn't a werewolf anymore." Stiles reversion back to being a human again had, needless to say, gave everyone quite a shock. Deaton for one was at a loss for what it meant.

Scott sighed. "And we have no idea how or why." Stiles was putting up smiles around them and was trying to keep calm but Scott could sense how all of this was affecting him. He knew that not knowing what was behind it what was bothering Stiles. Bothering all of them actually. None of them knew what to make of this or even how this happened. If it was because Jennifer had done something to him to make sure that there wouldn't be a Beast like she vowed, or if it was a result of their sacrifice to find the Nemeton, or another reason altogether. "And that's not the only thing we have to figure out. There's also what you said would happen. Me and Stiles could feel it, and I can't help but remember that quote that Jennifer shared with us that first day in class. It's like I'm looking right into the heart of an immense darkness."

"So, what do you do instead?" Deaton asked him.

"Look for my friends."

The twins seemed to be staying a bit longer in town with Aiden being around Lydia and Ethan sticking close to Danny. He also saw that Allison and Isaac seemed to have started to be around each other more. His heart had felt the loss but Stiles had been there to comfort him. Scott, likewise, helped Stiles with his feelings of how it was that his father now seemed to know about what was truly going on. Stiles could feel a change between them but Scott, having gone through this with his mother, assured him that his father just needed some time before he could wrap around all of this.

"What about Ms. Blake?" Deaton asked.

"I don't know. Back at the distillery, Stiles' dad tried to collect her but the body was gone. He said, that it looked like she hadn't been taken or dragged away. More like she had just gotten up and left."

That made Deaton stiffen.

* * *

Jennifer was crawling through the darkened woods with as much strength as she could muster. Her mind couldn't help but turn back to all those years ago when she had been in a similar position. Hopefully, she could save herself again the same way she did then. She crawled and pushed her way towards the Nemeton. She could feel its growth in power and taste the salvation that it could offer her.

"Please," she cried as she was only a few inches away from the stump. "You saved me once before. Save me again," she grunted as she pulled herself to it. She was almost at the base of it when her hand was grabbed and she was turned savagely around to face her attacker. She coughed out in amazement at the sight of Peter Hale. "Of course it's you. Everyone else suffers but somehow you come out on top. And, now that Scott's an Alpha you'll be able to steal it from him. You'll be an Alpha again."

Peter eyes tightened at her. "Again? Again?" He then went and tore her throat. "I am the Alpha!" he spat at her corpse. "I've always been the Alpha!"

* * *

That night, Stiles was blankly staring at his bathroom mirror as he was getting ready for bed. He looked over at his honey colored eyes as he focused but didn't even see a glimmer of change in them. It had been a routine he had taken recently. Whenever he got up he would go in the mirror and try to see if there was any change or sign that his power was returning that he would repeat again before he went to sleep. But, just like before, nothing. He couldn't help but grudgingly think that everyone else lost their powers during the eclipse but got theirs right back, why couldn't he? That night, he thought that he would not only get his power back but would come back with a rare power not often seen in werewolf kind. His heightened senses, his strength and his other abilities, all traces of them were completely gone. It was as if he had never even been a werewolf at all.

Stiles' eyes narrowed into a hard glare and he went and suddenly slammed his hand, hard, into the side of the bathroom wall. He grit his teeth as the pain traveled from his hand, up to his arm to his head. The place where he hit, not even a scratch. He turned around and rubbed at his hand that was now getting a spot of red from the inflamed skin which wasn't healing. Stiles stopped by the foot of his bed as he took one look out the window, at the moon. His eyes narrowed at the sight of it. Before he looked away to lay down, the honey brown shade of his irises suddenly went black before flickering back to normal.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for enjoying my story. I have a sequel planned and a poll has been set up on my profile for the title for the next story. Help me pick one as I'm stuck on which one is the best.


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